Harry Potter and the Fires of Gods
by Seigio
Summary: After living in his brothers shadow, a group of dimensional travelers land, taking Harry and Luna away to a continent of strife and adventure. HPLL. Crossover HP/DnD uses Pathfinder classes/deities but original kinda generic setting.
1. Prologue Part 1: Of Laceflys and Oracles

**Standard Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I claim to own Harry Potter or Pathfinder**

**A/N This is the result of a nagging plot bunny for the past week. I wanted to combine some elements of Harry has a twin in a non conventional way, as in I don't think the Potters would sink to abuse. I always thought the whole Abusive!Potters was kind of strange. But the Potters kind of ignoring Harry, that made more sense.**

**This will be a crossover of Harry Potter with a Pathfinder rule set. I'm not sure if I should have character sheets, I'm still undecided. The overall plot up to this point has basically been the same, but his brother, Godric, is the boy-who-lived. This is not a WBWL story, Godric is the BWL. But then again, the prophecy never explicitly said that it was about the BWL.**

* * *

The flickering lights exploded over the group, clouding their vision. The last image of their home dimension was the furious look on James' and Lily's faces as they crested their hill towards the ritual circle.

Seeking the comfort of touch, Harry and Luna both reached for each others hands moments before searing pain overcame them.

Harry had never before realized that essentially having your atoms dematerialized and smashed against the dimensional barrier could lead him to be so introspective, or that it hurt so much. Indeed, the pain seemed to only increase the reflection of the past weeks events that lead to this current predicament of standing in front of the lake at Godric's Hollow with a group of dimensional hoppers and his lovely girlfriend.

His last coherent thought before he crossed the dimensional boundary was that Luna was right, this was a nice day.

* * *

Harry was having a fairly decent summer so far. The summer after his fourth year was just coming to an end, and it had proved to be fairly uneventful so far. Harry was honestly excited to be leaving for Hogwarts in just two days, at least then he would be away from his brothers constant moping.

The end of fourth year had not been a pleasant affair, culminating with the rise of Voldemort and the death of the Hogwarts champion, after several events of worrying and stress for his brother's safety. 'Honestly,' Harry mused, 'a dragon in the first task? Did they not expect any contestants for the other tasks?'

He was currently cooped up in his room, decorated in brilliant hues of blue and silver, doing his Charms work. He was bent over his desk, furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment, when the familiar sound of a door creaking open sounded behind him.

"Harry, it's a beautiful day outside, why don't we go looking for Crumple-horned-snorkacks outside by the lake?"

Smiling softly to himself, Harry set aside his quill and turned around in his chair. In the doorway stood his beautiful girlfriend Luna Lovegood. The light from the hall struck her hair in such a way that it appeared a brilliant halo.

Drinking in her features, her slightly buggy blue eyes, her wand behind her ear, her dreamy expression, and her developing feminine curves, he rose from his chair. Closing the distance in a few steps, they shared a tender kiss.

"Of course, I was just about finished anyways. Merlin knows it will do me good to get outside." he replied. "I think I've gotten paler than Malfoy avoiding Godric all summer." Perhaps that was a lie, he had been outside quite a bit searching for fantastic creatures, in fact he would probably be said to be the tannest he had ever been.

Giggling a bit, the two teens clasped hands and traversed the winding halls of the Potter ancestral home. The walls were covered in typical Gryffindor colors, punctuated by portraits that called out to the young pair. Luna would always greet these portraits by name.

Stepping nimbly outside, the duo slowly traipsed down the winding path of the entrance towards the end of the Manor wards. The elder Potters were hesitant to allow the two outside with the rise of Voldemort, but Harry had managed to convince them that no one even knew the home was there, especially not Voldemort.

The wonders of the _Fidelius_ charm were truly amazing, despite the adamant refusal by Lily to teach her son the charm.

The silence of the property was comfortable, each reflecting on their good luck to have each other. Before Harry had first met Luna in his third year, he had felt so alone.

* * *

Up until that point he felt like he constantly had to live in his brothers shadow. It wasn't that he hated his brother, just the opposite in fact, he was well loved by his family and he loved them in turn despite how aloof they were to him recently. It's just that his housemates didn't necessarily deign to give him the ability to prove himself to be his own person.

From the very moment he set foot in the house of the wise, he was constantly bombarded with questions about his brother. It was hardly a new experience, all their lives people would stop and stare at his brother and ignore him altogether. Their parents made sure to make him feel like he was just as good as his brother, but to have the public disagree simply because of a scar and a title made him feel a bit put out.

Until the sorting, however, he always had his twin's or his parents' affection and attention.

Harry, of course, didn't pay it too much mind, sure that it would simply die out soon. The events of Halloween firmly killed that notion.

The events would be too extraordinary to believe if it hadn't been true. It was almost like something from a fairy tale. A troll loose in a castle, a damsel in distress, and his brother, ever the hero. The situation simply compounded on his difficulties, the rumour mill churned out stories increasingly exaggerated, 'For the last time he didn't use the power of love to kill the troll!' and it of course fell on Harry to confront general public asking him for the truth.

Aside from annoying Harry with barrages of questions, Halloween also signified the dwindling of his brothers attention. It started slowly at first, 'Sorry Harry, I have to study for potions with Hermione. You know how Snape hates me.', or 'Sorry bro, I promised Ron a chess game.'

It wasn't until after Christmas break that they started whispering conspiratorially, researching in the library at all times, that he felt completely excluded. In fact, they had an annoying penchant for glaring daggers at him for daring to interrupt their study sessions.

The event with the Philosophers Stone finally made it clear to Harry that at Hogwarts at least, his brother was just that, his brother, not his best friend, his inseparable prankster pal.

It wasn't that he wanted to risk life and limb to brave the challenges of the stone, but it would have been nice to at least been told. That his brother knew that and didn't want him to come to harm never crossed Harry's mind.

Second year was much the same, he was driven increasingly into his studies when the animosity that the public showed him due to his brother being a parseltongue. Obviously being the brother of an up and coming Dark Wizard is the same as being a Dark Wizard himself. Of course, the public didn't have to know that he was also a parseltongue.

Indeed, it was second year that Harry began to lose hope in the wizarding world as a whole.

The whole flip flop from praise for Godric first year to hatred for them both second did nothing to endear the masses to him. But the ultimate sign had to be the willful attempt to kill the major percentage of Hogwarts's students by a prominent member of government. If the public could not only hate his brother for his gifts, but support such a despicable man, and put the man in a position of power at a school, why would he want to be a part of it?

With that conclusion in his mind, he began to withdraw from the masses, spending more time studying that socializing. Luckily he was in Ravenclaw, where such behavior was often hand waved away. "Oh he's a 'claw, of course he's studying day in day out."

The fact that hurt crossed his face whenever his brother passed him in the halls, not even glancing at him, or when the others in his house sneered at him when he tried to approach them, never registered.

His opinion of the overall sense of the wizarding world was merely bolstered when the school swapped from hatred to adoration with the rescue of Ginevra Weasley.

Without the threat of murder for daring to go into a corridor, and without the rash of petrifications that plagued the school, Harry was geared up for a fairly normal third year.

It was in fact a fairly normal year, Harry had finally been bolstered from reserve chaser to starting, and he was top of his class, much to Hermione's chagrin.

It was also the year that he met his best friend, Luna Lovegood. The friendship was in fact entirely by accident, before he had had considered her the nice, albeit a bit strange girl in his house who seemed even more alone than him.

The seeds that blossomed into friendship were planted not over a cup of tea, or a nice pleasant conversation, but by the relentless torment that had plagued the girl.

It had been a fairly normal day, it was raining much as it was wont to do in Britain during the spring, and Harry had scrambled to his common room early. The sight that met him in the normally studious common room still filled him with righteous anger.

Near the fireplace, a group of two younger girls, the Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang, and a mousy haired prefect were laughing, playing keep away with a lustrous pearl comb. The poor girl they were tormenting was almost in tears, begging her torturers to give it back.

Harry was said to have inherited a bit of a temper from his mother, but the one thing that had been ingrained in him by both his brother and his parents, was a hatred of bullies. Seeing two older students, who by all accounts should have been helping the girl, instead willingly participating in the tormenting of the girl, fired a righteous rage inside of him.

"Give her the comb Chang, what has she ever done to you!?" the green-eyed teen spat angrily at the asian girl, who turned to face him with a smirk as she threw the comb to the older boy.

"What we do with Loony isn't any of your business Potter." she glared.

'Loony' was nearly in tears at this point, scrambling for the last gift her mother had ever given her that was held in the hands of the short, stocky boy, arms outstretched. That he was laughing did nothing to assuage Harry's fury.

"Yeah," he said, "It isn't, but it **is **house business. House business that **you **and that prefect over there chose to accept when you took your positions."

Drawing her wand, Chang mocked, "Oh is the boy-who-lived's little brother gonna hurt me? I'm so scared."

Easing his wand into his fingers, Harry stared the girl in the eyes. She might have been pretty, but to take power and abuse it like that was sickening.

Harry had always figured that the wizarding world had a major issue of having power so casually held. A man in the muggle world could have power with a gun, but the size of your gun never really made one man more powerful than another. Bombs of course were different, but in the wizarding world power was more easily measured. This tended to lead to a rash of people who thought it was their right to rule, simply because of power.

"I'll say this one last time Chang," he hissed, drawing and pointing his wand straight between her eyes, "call off your little dogs and give her the comb."

Later witnesses would swear Harry's eyes went red when the prefect holding the comb snapped it and tossed one piece to the girl and one in the raging fire at the end of the room.

All coherency and negotiation left Harry at that point._"Stupify"_ Harry roared, channeling his raw fury into the spell. The brilliant blast of red light struck Chang, crumpling her to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut. Shortly after, in a very un-Ravenclaw'ish manner, he threw himself at the prefect, punching him solidly in the face.

Of course, Harry was small for his age, always had been, and this prefect was a beater for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. But then, in the wizarding world people aren't usually prepared for a jab to the face, often faster than a spell.

"What the fuck!" the boy screamed, clutching his bleeding and broken nose. A quick _incarcerous _later and then man was bound in ropes, still bleeding on the carpet.

By this time the remainder of the tormenters, two second year girls, had drawn their wands and aimed at him.

Of course, their only experience in Defense was Lockhart, and Harry had been tutored by his father as the boy-who-lived's brother. Seeing as they didn't necessarily want to _Obliviate _ him, they had cast the first thing that came to mind.

The tickling hex, marvelous piece of magic though it is, is next to nothing in a combat scenario.

Two more _Stupify_'s later, which they made no attempt to dodge, had Harry standing in the middle of the common room, wand drawn, three unconscious girls and one rope bound bleeding prefect around him.

It was to this scene that their diminutive charms professor arrived through the door to his office, startled by the wards that marked danger in the common room.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Flitwick practically yelled at Harry. Seeing the crying Lovegood heiress clutching half a comb gave him an idea as to what actually happened, but until it was confirmed he wasn't going to draw any conclusions.

"Mr. Potter, my office, explain, **now.**"

After a discussion which eventually culminated in Harry losing 50 points but gaining 30 for 'standing up for those who couldn't,' and detention with Flitwick for a month, where Flitwick secretly promised to teach Harry to duel. As well, the prefect lost his badge, and both were removed from the Quidditch team as well as 20 points being taken from each of the bullies.

But in the end, the short lived fight gave Harry one thing he didn't have before, a friend, and a relationship that blossomed into a romance in their fourth year, when his brother faced the trials of the tri-wizard tournament.

* * *

Now, though, Harry and Luna were cresting a hill, the manor behind them, to view the lake where Snorkacks tended to nest.

The water of the lake lapped softly against the rocky shores, and the light reflecting off the water showed small schools of fish swimming happily.

The Potter property was beautiful, acres of soft rolling green terrain with a small lake and forest that extended all the way to Ottery St. Catchpole. The luscious green fields brimmed with life, some normal, some fantastical. Only, it was just two young teenagers reveling in the joys of youth that knew of the latter.

In the early days of their friendship, Harry had begun to start reading the Quibbler. Sure many of the claims were baseless, this Luna knew, but a lot of it was completely accurate. Many of the fantastic creatures were in fact real, from the tiny to the large.

All it took to realize this was a bit of luck, and a lot of faith on Harry's part.

"Ooh a purple-winged lace fly!" Luna squealed from behind a large boulder near the rocky coast of the lake.

Smiling, Harry raced to catch up after he had fallen behind with his thoughts.

In the blondes hand was a tiny winged creature, a bit like a maggot, with vibrant purple wings. Caught up in examining it, they never realized that behind them more popped out, seemingly from nowhere.

When the swarm began to produce a high pitched whining noise, similar to an aircraft taking off, the two turned around.

Surprise marred Luna's face, as the creature was extraordinarily rare.

'Strange,' she thought, 'they almost never swarmed except in cases of...'

"Harry, RUN!" she screamed, grabbing the shocked boys hand and grabbing him, tugging him away from the lake.

The very confused teen and his frantic girlfriend sprinted up the hill they had just descended. When they reached the top, the most horrendous noise, as if cannons had just fired in harmony, reached their ears. Light seemed to pour from behind them, as a concussion rippled behind them.

The wave of compressed air sent the two sprawling at the top of the hill, as the faint sounds of screaming came from behind them. The duo quickly scrambled behind the knotty looking tree at the top of the hill, seeking cover from what must be a horrendous and graphic sight.

"Erastil that stings!" a hoarse cry came from the shore. Followed, oddly, by weak chuckling.

"Only you, Gorag, would consider being dematerialized and smashed together again to sting. You barbarians and your pain tolerance, what I wouldn't give for a cleric right about now." A wizened voice replied with barely concealed pain and a tinge of mirth. "Fat chance we'll find one of those around, so let's just set up camp, there's a building to the North it seems. We'll see if they have any healers on hand. Or maybe those two on the hill there will help."

From their hiding places the two teens froze in shock, this man seemed to already be aware of their presence, yet had made no malicious moves yet. Perhaps this wasn't simply another Death Eater trick that his parents made him constantly wary of.

"Luna," Harry whispered urgently, "who are these people and why did you scream to run?" Crouched behind the rock he saw the apprehension frittering across her face. Knowing her for years, he could tell when she was hiding something she believed too fantastic or outrageous for most people to accept.

"What aren't you telling me?" he inquired gently, clasping her hand reassuringly.

"They're dimensional travelers Harry, purple-winged laceflies only gather were the fabric of reality is being torn."

Near the lake the man identified as Gorag shouted, "Damn good dimensional travelers too! Why don't you come on out, we aren't gonna hurt you. Look, I swear on my mothers maiden head that we mean you no harm."

Confused at the strange oath, but sensing no ill intent behind the words, the two teens hesitantly stuck their heads out from behind the tree.

He finally got a look at the group that was hastily erecting a camp. Beyond the wizened old man who looked exactly like Dumbledore, there was a dark skinned man with tusks and a vicious looking war axe strapped to his back, a terribly short woman with two daggers at her side, and a ratty looking man, literally, with a large rifle strapped across his back. Needless to say, he felt that if they wanted to kill him, he would pose little threat, despite Flitwick saying he was a natural duelist.

The strange companions were quickly moving with fluidity, quickly erecting a ring near a clearing for a fire, as well as pitching a tent on the grass away from the shore. Aside from the old man who was hastily reaching into a trunk, rummaging for something, each member knew exactly what was required.

"Hi Mister Dimensional travelers!" Luna shouted excitedly. Harry clapped his hand over her mouth his face an expression of fear over meeting these men. Harry's senses screamed danger, something he hadn't felt since he had encountered Alastor Moody for the first time.

"Hi sweetie!" The ancient looking man called back cheerfully over his shoulder, his arm still in the trunk. "Might we ask which plane we landed on? Not one of the elemental planes obviously, unless you are cleverly disguised fire elementals."

"Fire... Elementals... What... Who... DUMBLEDORE?!" Harry managed to stammer out as he was dragged forward by his girlfriend, contrary to what his senses screamed at him.

Ignoring her flustered companion, Luna called, "Well we're on Earth, England to be exact, and I always heard this was the third dimension, but I don't think that's what you meant. Are you muggles?"

The man looked slightly taken aback, either from her questioning or the fact that she poked him -hard- interrupting him from his furious rummaging.

"Muggles?" he puzzled out.

"You know, people without magic. 'Cause I would hate it if the ministry came by and wiped the memories of how you got here. Or of us. I would be terribly put out if someone we just met forgets about us immediately." She deadpanned, looking straight in his eyes.

A dawning look of comprehension spread across his wizened face. He muttered a few words, and a large creature that looked to be a cross between a platypus and a winged horse shimmered into existence.

Disregarding the stunned look on the raven haired teens face at the casual display of wandless magic, he continued, "I would certainly hope I knew magic, otherwise Bill here would probably get loose and slaughter us in our sleep."

In a voice that was a strange mixture between quacks and words the creature choked out, "Ah shutup Rorin, you know you love me."

"IT CAN TALK?!" Harry all but shouted. Across the lake birds took flight in surprise. It wasn't every day a boy encountered a flying horse thing, as he so eloquently referred to it in his mind.

"Of course Bill can talk! How else would he be the terror of the seven continents?" The man replied with a sly grin. "Of course the seven continents were of a cave in Abraxia but seven continents nonetheless."

"At least I don't have eight different aging barmaids swearing I'm married to them."

"It's only seven and who are you to go off on holding a few fake marriages mister. Remember that lovely lady eidolon you promised to marry? Knock her up and run off more like."

Sniggers ran among the strange crowd as Harry watched, stunned that a man who looked exactly like Dumbledore was holding a conversation with a thing. When his brain finally managed to get out of the pickle it was in, and he regained some sense of motor control in his jaw, he only managed to get out, "What?"

-Slap-

"Sorry Harry but you were going into shock, why don't you sit down over here." Luna inquired worried for her companions rapidly decomposing mental sanity. She gently guided him by the hand to a rock the barbarian was leaning on, motioning him to sit down.

The fact that the barbarian was currently running a stone the size of Harry's head across a wicked looking axe did not escape the boy, and if anything only seemed to fluster him further.

Jumping into the air as if he had forgotten their young guests, Rorin forced his eyes away from bill and turned towards the two with an expression frightfully similar to Dumbledore.

With a twinkle in his eye, he explained, "Well I'm sure you have a lot of questions, so to start with we should probably go into introductions."

Bill sighed and grumbled to himself, looking as embarrassed over his friend as a thing could.

Pointing towards himself and bowing with a flourish of his hand, the man grandly exclaimed, "Rorin, Summoner Extraordinaire and Dimensional Philosopher."

"Gorag, Gorag the Barbarian," the dark skinned man grunted, setting down his whet stone and testing the balance of his weapon with a few swings towards the bundle of firewood he had brought back. When the blade cleanly severed a small mountain of logs, Harry near fainted. He idly wondered whether a pile of bodies would provide the same resistance.

"Milon, Milon the Rogue, dastardly thief and master of breaking and entering." The short woman squeaked from the folds of the tent that was rapidly raising.

"Noram Deadeye, Gunslinger and bounty hunter of Abraxia on the lost shores." The rat faced man announced as he took apart a nasty looking rifle, scanning it over for damage or rust.

"Luna Lovegood, witch, reporter, hunter of rare animals." Luna said airily, thoroughly amused at the groups theatrics.

Turning towards her friend who still sat on the rock, mouth agape, she scolded him lightly about his lack of manners.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself Harry?" Luna asked, urging him on. "Come on, not even Death Eaters could come up with something THIS crazy. Introduce yourself." She continued, looking into his eyes expectantly.

"Harry, Harry Potter." He just managed to choke out, eyes still on the large man testing his weapon. When Gorag slammed it down and reached for his pack he just about jumped 8 inches off the rock, landing in a heap near the shore.

"Forgive him, he's a bit flustered at this," Luna managed apologetically. She grasped his hand and reassuringly squeezed it as she pulled him back up onto his rock.

"Quite all right sweetie, quite all right." Rorin said, amusement written on his features. "It is a lot to take in, the fact that there are alternate dimensions and universes out there. In fact, if I didn't manage to break the dimensional barrier myself, I wouldn't believe it."

"Now, why don't you tell us about this world we ended up in? You mentioned magic? Would you happen to know any good clerics in the area?"

"Clerics? I'm terribly sorry for my ignorance but why would you need a religious man?" Luna asked, an expression of confusion on her face. She of all people knew the value of faith, but couldn't think how it could possibly help a group such as this.

Pulling out a piece of parchment and quill from the folds of his robe, laying it flat on a seemingly invisible surface, the old man furiously muttered and scribbled, "World 2153, no Clerics, possibly only arcane magics."

"2153?" Harry spluttered. His expression paled at the thought that not only was there one other world, but thousands.

"Yes 2153, now, I have a list of pre-written list of questions here, quite handy for dimensional travelers, could you help me answer them?"

"Sure Mr. Rorin, but can you explain why you wanted a holy man? You mentioned Divine Magic?" Luna shifted over towards him, reaching for the list. Glancing it over, she placed it gently on the rocks. Jumping onto the large bolder besides Harry, she flung her arm across his shoulders and looked at Rorin. Her wide eyes might disturb some, but the expression of unabashed interest got the man all hot and bothered.

Looking a touch embarrassed, the aged summoner glanced at the floor and muttered something.

Milon spoke up, "Well frankly to answer the why, this whole dimensional thing hurts like hell, and someone here created a spell that has a habit of turning insides into outsides randomly."

"Look it only happened one time!" Obviously a subject of much shame for Rorin he indignantly squawked, "The rest of us were fine too! I told you it was a bad idea to bring a cleric of Asmodeus with us."

"Be that as it may, it was still a bad omen for the safety of this spell. All I'm saying is why don't we just take a few artifacts and books" at the mention of the books Rorin practically bounced up, "from this plane and retire. The pain is only getting worse and I don't think I can take much more before I start passing out every shift. And we both know there are some hops where we don't want to pass out."

"You have a point Milon, but there is so much we **don't** know!"

"How will being eaten by cannibals because we passed out help us gain knowledge?" Milon scolded pointing an accusing finger towards the man, "The knowledge I seek isn't necessarily what my insides look like in a stew."

"Look we run into cannibals ten times and every world has cannibals now does it?"

Glaring at the man, she firmly said, as if explaining to an upstart child, "No, but it is always something to be wary of. Why don't we all decide, it's not just your life at risk here."

Rorin helplessly looked side to side, his expression begging the fellow members of his entourage for support. At the accusing glares of both men, he sighed in defeat.

"Okay, all those in favor of.. settling down." He said the last two words almost as if they were pure poison.

At this all of the other members of the strange band raised their hand, even Luna.

Smirking, Milon turned towards the man, "Well, it's settled then. I always wanted to settle down and live the good life."

Rorin sulked, "You said you would never settle down."

"I said that well over 20 years ago Rorin, people change."

Meanwhile, Harry finally managed some sense of coherency and interrupted, "You still haven't answered, what **is** Divine Magic? You mean miracles or some such?"

"Heavens no!" Rorin exclaimed, as if affronted by the idea. "Look, this won't make much sense unless we get a feel for your kind of magic. So would you kindly explain it so we can work out the differences and say this in some way that makes sense?"

Luna piped up, "Well, some people, wizards and witches," identical grimaces spread up at the mention of witches, "are born with magic. We have a wand and chant a bit in Latin while waving it around and magic happens. Of course the really powerful wizards don't need one all the time, but most people do as a focus."

"Wizards and witches? At least those are familiar." Gorag grunted. "So you both are wizards then?" he turned an inquired eye towards the two. It seemed to them as if they were being swiftly judged, categorized, and assessed before he turned back towards his work. Strangely he was knitting a small blanket.

"No no no Mr. Gorag, I'm a witch and Harry's a wizard." Luna chided, as if talking to a small child.

At her declaration, she was almost instantly at knife point from Milon, who was up in a blur of motion. The blade pressed into her pale flesh uncomfortably, nearly drawing blood. In a harsh growl the halfling stated, "We don't take too kindly to witches, none of that voodoo stuff on me you here me?"

Shooting up from his rock, wand in hand, Harry near shouted, "Whats your problem! Have you even thought to ask to see if witches mean something different?! Don't you think after hopping to another dimension that maybe definitions change?"

Sheepishly but warily Milon eased the pressure of her dagger from Luna's throat. Muttering a quick apology, she inquired, "All right, what is a witch?"

"A female magic user. What's it to you?" Luna seemed thoroughly nonplussed at being held at knife point, while Harry was almost steaming with rage.

Reddening quickly Milon explained, "A witch is usually an evil practitioner where we come from, nasty things that consort with devils to get crazy powers over men and evil."

Butting in, Gorag growled, "A witch," he spat the word with venom, "rendered me unable to bear children. For a warrior such as me that is worth than death." He glanced forlornly towards his front.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Luna said, truly she looked sorry, "but they can't all be evil can they?"

At this point Bill, forgotten except by Harry who was still eying the creature warily, piped up, "No, they're not. Something which this uncouth lot seems to forget. Many witches are quite nice, and they don't consort with devils." he added, with a look of scorn towards Milon.

"Good as well do," she muttered under her breath, turning towards the tents. "I'll be in my bunk."

Looking up from his book, Rorin said apathetically, "Well that was a nice bit a drama, but let's continue shall we. From the sound of things you have a completely different magic system than we do. We require foci for only a few spells, most use a few words and hand waves."

As if to demonstrate his point, Rorin waved his hands and murmured a few words.

At the end of the gesture Rorin looked up surprised when a glow surrounded the pair, arching up and spiraling towards the heavens. Hastily retreating back to his tent to an indignant squeal and protests of "Privacy Rorin!" he emerged a few seconds later with another book in his hand.

Not appreciating having glown like a tacky stick at a rave, Harry once more fumbled for his wand and aimed it at the tent entrance. He relaxed slightly when Rorin returned with only a book instead of some deadly weapon he was expecting.

"Remarkable, truly remarkable" Rorin muttered under his breath, paging through the book and taking quick notes with a pen.

"Does he get like this often?" Luna questioned Noram dreamily.

Noram stopped polishing his gun and looked up at the girl. "Pretty much, sometimes he'll mutter something or other and then just go digging through that book of his. Milon once tried to snatch the thing and her hand right about burned off." The last part he added with a small smile.

"Jumped in a lake and found the caverns of Thorasil she did though," Gorag chimed in, amused at his companions prior misfortune. At least as amused as he could look.

With a final scritch scratch of a quill, some more muttered words, and a shared meaningful glance with Bill, Rorin announced "Well then, that was most unexpected." He looked closer at Luna, as if realizing she was there for the first time. Reaching once more into the folds of his robe, he produced a strange looking glass type object.

Putting it to his eye, the glass made it seem as though his eye filled the saucer shaped frame. He sharply poked her in a rather ticklish area, causing her to giggle a bit. Murmuring to himself he reached deep into his robes, deeper than should have been physically possible really.

"What was that crazy color thing you did, and why are you examining her?" Harry glowered, yanking his girlfriend away from the strange man who looked in danger of falling into his own robes. He was understandably angry of course, in this dimension lights are usually a sign of curses or other such nonsense.

"Well, I was simply testing your checking your classes with a spell I invented when I was a child. Oh don't look like that it's mostly safe, anyways, it showed something most unusual. Instead of the simple aura that would indicate power and abilities, the cause and effect matrix that mars an aura shifted to the heavens in a spiral with seven different colored rings. This could be because of a compounded effect on your causality leading to..."

"Get to the point Rorin!" three voices shouted in unison.

"Oh, yes, yes," he flustered out, "well anyways, you are, as we say, some very powerful entities bitches. Harry, I think yours is Pharasma, goddess of fate, and you are probably a magus, and Luna, I think you might be an oracle."

At that Noram gasped and fell off his log, Gorag growled, and Milon stuck her head out of a tent. "An oracle?" all three queried in unison.


	2. Prologue Part 2: Of Magi and Gods

**Standard Disclaimer: I don't and will never claim to own Harry Potter or Pathfinder.**

"_Oh, yes, okay," he flustered out, "well anyways, you are, as we say, some very powerful entities bitch. Harry, I think yours is fate, also you are probably a magus, and Luna, I think you might be an oracle."_

_At that Noram gasped and fell off his log, Gorag growled, and Milon stuck her head out of a tent. "An oracle?" all three queried in unison._

* * *

Looking proud, Rorin drew himself up and exclaimed, "Yes, an oracle! Quite remarkable I know, but it isn't the first time something like this has happened."

Turning his eyes back towards the stunned duo, he asked, "Has anything unusual happened to you in the past? Are you perhaps blind, crazy, deaf, lame?"

Putting her fingers to her chin in an expression of pondering, Luna drawled out, "Well, I don't think I'm blind, a few people have called me crazy, I can hear you so I'm not deaf, and I am reasonably sure I can walk. What do you think Harry?"

Still a bit in shock, Harry instead turned an accusatory glare towards Rorin, "Who are you to ask her if she's crippled? What business is it of yours?"

Ignoring the glare from the boy, he answered nonchalantly, "Oracles are usually marked in a terrible way, deities using them as conduits for their power will often burn out or curse them in strange ways. Sometimes it drives people insane to simply taste divine power." He didn't seem disturbed at the least about the concept of insanely powerful being driving people insane, indeed it seemed a normal occurrence.

"Aye, my cousin was made an oracle for Asmodeus, he there about screamed until his voice went hoarse." Gorag chimed in.

Milon rolled her eyes, "Your cousin was already insane. First time I showed some trans-dimensional coins to him he there about chopped my head off screaming about gnomes in Zurich or some such nonsense."

"You try being tortured by gnomes for six months!" Gorag replied hotly. The two companions glared at each other, hands flying to their weapons.

Flustered Harry held up his hands and shouted, "Hold up! You're saying Luna can go insane at a moments notice?! How do we get rid of this?"

The two shared one last heated glare before Rorin piped up, "You can't, only deities or arch devils can, and the price is often not worth it. Don't worry though, at least nothing evil has claimed her for their 'mouthpiece' in the world of the living." He patted Harry's shoulder in a comforting manner. Strangely Harry derived no comfort from the gesture.

"Great, that makes me feel so much better. Can we tell what 'thing' made her their 'mouthpiece'?"

Snapping his fingers, a book levitated towards the wizened man. Flipping through he pointed towards a page with full drawings of strange symbols. Etched in charcoal were pictures of animals, skulls, trophies, and strange machines, each with a soft flowing text below it.

"These are the symbols of the various forces that deities stake their domain. Each deity has a number of domains, some overlapping, some unique. The combination of the domains is what is always unique to a deity."

"Usually when a young boy or girl is found to be an oracle, usually by a religious head, they are given a copy of this book. The book, for lack of a better phrasing, sends out a tiny call to a deity. Each symbol represents a unique address through which the spell sends it's signal."

Thrusting the book before Luna, he asked her to close her eyes and point towards symbols with any connection to her.

Squeezing her eyes closed and humming softly to herself, she pointed to a cross, a pentagram, a broken chain, a card, and a road. Upon pointing to each symbol, they each backlit with an ethereal light, sending a pulse of magic seemingly into the sky. Harry carefully felt each pulse as it left the book, extending his senses to the proverbial sixth sense that is natural in wizards.

It is this sense that nearly blinded Harry in the sheer potency of the magic, what started as a trickle with the first runes swiftly grew into a blinding inferno of sheer power. Magic that closely reflected the airy and wispy nature that he had associated with Luna burst forth from the tome, diffusing into the sky.

As quickly as the magic came, it coalesced, forming into a shapeless mass that looked faintly of a spiral. Spiraling, it's tendrils touching the clouds, the pure bundle of magic fell upon Luna, settling it's feelers into her skin. From his short distance away Harry could practically feel the magic on his skin, it's touch cool as a dainty breeze in the night sky.

As the magic sunk into her pale skin, a soft voice, seeming more commanding in it's softness of tone and it's feminity, appearing all at once imperial and free, lofty and down to Earth, resounded from everywhere and nowhere.

"**My child, I claim you in the name of Desna. May the stars watch over your dreams." **

With the last word Luna burned brighter than all the stars in heaven, before collapsing to the ground in a heap.

A tuneless melody, powerful and beautiful came over the camp. The tune struck a chord in the hearts of the adventurers, casting their mind to taverns and campfires, where bards sung songs of freedom and heroes.

As soon as the music ended, Harry dashed from his place where he had stood stock still.

Rushing over to her still form on the beach, he cradled her head in his lap. Murmuring comforting words, Luna blearily opened her eyes.

"Harry?" she called weakly.

"I'm here Luna, I'm here, it's okay, you're okay." Harry looked to be on the verge of breaking down. He scanned her body for physical injuries, while the group behind him whispered in hushed tones, not wanting to disturb.

"It was so beautiful." She whispered before her head fell back, her mind casting her into the realm of Morpheus. Harry carried her prone form to the bedrolls, gently laying her head against one of the pillows.

Glowering at the group still whispering by the front of the tent, in a deep low voice, "What just happened? Don't give me any crap, tell me what the fuck just happened there."

Being hardened warriors, the group didn't so much as shiver at the dangerous undercurrents in his voice. Instead Milon calmly explained "She's blessed child, the goddess of dreams and stars has claimed her."

Anger poured through Harry's veins. Thoughts of horrors, visions of Luna's psyche shattering, ending up like the Longbottoms, overcame him, sending the poor befuddled boy off the edge of rationality. His aura flailed a brilliant green and red, swirling around him. With a cry he lunged at Rorin snarling.

-_Crack-_

In the moments it took Harry to jump towards the unfazed Rorin, Gorag was up and faster than Harry could blink he had backhanded the furious teen.

Condescendingly Rorin explained, "She has been claimed, there is nothing you nor I can do to help her now. Now stop acting like a child and discuss this like an adult or her plight will be for naught."

He clutched his cheek which stung from the pain of the slap and his wounded pride. Choking back tears he unsteadily got up, ignoring the offered hand of Gorag.

"Explain." he spat, venom dripping on the word.

Rorin pinched the bridge of his nose, as if to ward off an impending headache, and sighed, he waved his hand behind him and sat on the newly conjured chair that had shimmered into existence. He motioned for Harry to take the only remaining chair in the crowded tent.

Milon commented to her companions, "Why don't we go find some food, let these two talk."

Nodding in agreement, the trio marched out of the cramped quarters and headed towards the forest. Inside the tent Rorin reached into his robes and procured a pipe.

Disregarding the steaming teen across from him, he calmly searched for a small bag of tobacco, lit his pipe, and sucked in a deep breath. He exhaled a smoke ring towards Harry who fumed silently.

"Ah, much better, now what did you want to know again?"

Roiling beneath the surface, Harry spat through clenched teeth, "What the fuck is an oracle and why is my friend unconscious out there."

Taking another breath, Rorin peered down his nose, "What do you know of deities?"

Startled by this seemingly random question, Harry paged through his memories, searching for information. "They're usually wizards that made Muggles believe them divine. The wizarding world doesn't have churches usually, though they do believe in the afterlife. Some of the old rites use pagan deities, but most have died down after being outlawed."

Rorin snorted at this, "And where did everything come from then? It's a large multiverse out there."

"No one is sure, muggles think it was some big bang and wizards tend to believe it was the will of magic." Harry explained. He was beginning to wonder whether this man was all there. By his posture and seeming leadership position amongst the group, Harry didn't want to underestimate him, but his frequent tangents made Harry wonder.

Rorin slowly got out of his chair, reached for a book, and showed it to Harry. It was written in a strange tongue, once more Harry recognized the smooth flowing words from the book of symbols. In one large two page sketch, it showed around twenty people, ranging from a sulking figure to an aristocratic figure, to a wretched drunk laughing uproariously.

Harry realized that it was probably a picture of the deities that the people in Rorin's realm, and how many others, believed in.

Puzzled he asked, "Alright, I give up, what am I looking for here?"

Confusion crossed Rorin's face before comprehension. "Maybe you need an explanation of **your** powers first." Once more he drew a book, but this one he held in a strange reverence.

"My powers?" Harry choked out. If it was anything like Luna he was thinking to decline, being used as a mouthpiece for a strange being with enough power to do _that _was not his definition of a gift. His mind cast back to the previous conversation, "You mean magus powers?"

Beaming Rorin said, "Precisely! You, my young companion, are a magus. Magi are crazy bastards who use swords in one hand and spells in another, sometimes combining them for startling effect. Picture a sword that electrocutes and drains the life force of an enemy, that's a magus."

"As a magus you should be able to read this book, but perhaps like you're friend there, it's a bit untapped so to speak."

Harry had never before so much as touched a sword, and to be told that he had the capacity to use them with magic, was a bit far fetched in his opinion, and he told Rorin as much.

Rorin explained that due to dimensional differences, what could be skill with a sword in one was skill with something else in another. In essence this meant that Harry's wand could be considered a sword in the eyes of the multiverse. Whether this meant that Harry could use a wand in one hand and magic in another was something Rorin wasn't too sure on.

"Alright, Harry, I need you to try to concentrate here. Look at the words on the page, see how they flow." Rorin looked at Harry expectantly. Harry noticed there was a definite flow to the words, almost like the flow in ancient runes. However the flow of runes is not something taught, much to the goblins exasperation when they receive new untrained warders.

Harry carefully considered the mans words. The flow of the words is not something that he is used to focusing on, in the required Latin course at Hogwarts he was never really the best with languages. However, his eyes were drawn to the way the words knit together, rather than the words themselves.

His eyes moved towards the words, and he began to take in not what the words meant, but how they flowed from one letter to another. The soft strokes danced together in a ballet of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines of ink. The inherit poetry of language was never as clear to Harry as it was at that moment, how the words of a text assembled in order to form ideas, sentences, syntax.

It seemed to the young wizard as if Magic itself was guiding his eyes, filling his mind with comprehension. The very flow of the words themselves seemed to hold a magic in and of themselves, and Harry slowly opened up his sixth sense to the magic of the written word.

Understanding dawned on Harry's mind, and in a corner of his mind not flooding with the new found language he briefly wondered if all of this foreign magic felt the same.

Pleased, Rorin sat back in his chair and softly clapped, startling Harry from his reverie. "Good, good, now to answer your original question, go back to the page prior to the one with the pantheon in it."

Shifting through the ever growing pile, Harry triumphantly drew forth the book. He skimmed the pages, until he reached something on oracles.

_Oracles are widely regarded the mouthpieces of the gods. An oracle is chosen from birth for qualities a deity possesses and idealizes in a mortal. Oracles are usually realized sometime in puberty, prior to that the knowledge of the deity has the potential to drive a child insane, despite how good a Deity may be. _

_Oracles are the unravelers of a god's will, and reach towards mysteries that encompass our universe._

_To be an oracle is to be blessed, they channel the pure magic of their deity, not diluted as with clerics. Oracles are frightfully powerful, and can commune easily with powerful beings._

_Oracles though, for their gifts, are also given curses. These most frequently manifest as blindness, lameness, and deafness, but can also manifest in even more horrible ways._

It frightened Harry at the prospect of Luna being a mere puppet for a god's will, a good little dancer in the weaves of a highly powerful being. Harry was aware that such was the case for many powerful wizards, including the greatest wizard of all time, Dumbledore. The wizengamot was a constant puppet show and ballet of subtle manipulations, and the thought of being caught up in a divine politicians sticky web made his stomach churn.

"Okay, what was that thing that claimed her? Desno or something?"

Rorin rolled his eyes good-naturedly and chuckled, "Desna, not Desno. Goddess of dreams, travelers and the stars. Quite a good goddess so I hear, even if most of her followers aren't all there. Their high priests are usually not all there, seeming to have part of their mind focused on Desna's subtle tapestry of dreams."

Harry instantly drew parallels to the girl sleeping outside. The dreamy expression, the love of the night sky, and the constant motion that encompassed Luna. He often joked that she moved with the motions of the moon.

"I see," he whispered softly, "that makes sense."

But one worry nagged at his mind. The text mentioned a curse. While Harry could see Luna as some proverbial star child, his blood chilled at the thought of such a vibrant soul unable to view the sky, or unable to hear the chirping of birds, the rush of water, the crying of babes.

As if reading his mind, Rorin said not unkindly, "There is no way to know what the curse is until it shows. Usually it is something that would have significance in the oracles life, some traumatic event."

Almost on cue, Luna began to stir in her cot outside the tent. Harry was instantly to his feet and by her side, holding her hand.

"Speak to me Luna, can you hear me, can you see?"

In a soft, watery voice she smiled and said, "I spoke to her, I can see clearly now. The tapestry she weaves of all mens dreams. I saw the most wondrous things, fantastic creatures, dreams of good and bad men."

Breathing a soft sigh of relief, Harry helped her to her feet. Once she took a few tentative steps, he dismissed the idea of lameness, blindness, and deafness. Barring that what else did the book say?

'More horrible ways,' the thought echoed through his head. Snapping his view towards the tent, he practically begged, "What other ways can it manifest. Rorin I have to know."

Sighing softly, Rorin looked forlorn. Once more he explained, "There is no way of knowing, the methods too innumerable to count. I'm sorry Harry, Luna."

Sensing her boyfriends distress, Luna reached for his hand and squeezed. She looked up to his face and noticed his expression darkening.

Softly caressing his face with her slender fingers, she murmured, "We'll face this together." Luna loved many things about Harry, his passion, his wearing his heart on his sleeve, his ability to stand up for what is right, not easy. But she knew that Harry had a tendency to assign the blame for everything that could even remotely be attached to him to himself.

Knowing Harry for so long, she also knew that he would keep blaming himself until he either forgot about it or eventually moved on, and nothing she could say would change his mind. She could practically see the cogs turning in his head, correlating events, assigning blame to himself.

Bemoaning the unfairness of it all, he softly reached out and hugged her, reaching a resolution and resolve, "We will."

"Hem, hem," the couple turned towards the amused, at least as far as a creature could look amused, face of Bill.

"If you're done, I can hear someone calling for you that-a-way." One of his wings unfurled in the direction of the manor house.

In the excitement of the day, Harry hadn't realized that the sun had slowly started cresting to the West, throwing a pale orange light across the lake. Shadows stretched high, he did not want to worry his mother, possibly making her call a search for him.

Before heading off, he turned towards Rorin, "How long are you guys staying here?"

Rorin's expression softened a bit, "We never really know, the will of the gods can make our stays range from short to long. This will be our last though, I really want to drag it out a bit more, so probably closer to a few months at the least."

Rorin pondered for a moment, an expression on his face that his close friends and families could tell you meant that he realized that he had forgotten something, perhaps important. As the teens reached the hill, he let out a cry and ran back towards his tent, swiftly searching the books.

In the short time he had known Harry, Rorin felt some teacherly duty to assist him with his new powers. He also knew that his friends would keep moaning until they got at least some measure of booty from this new world. With a cry of success, he held up a book, blue with a golden clasp.

Crying out to the duo who just now were reaching the top of his hill, he all but sprinted up the incline. Breathing heavily, he held out the book to Harry, panting out "Book... spells... magus... treasure."

Letting the old man catch his breath, Harry looked the book over. Once again he felt the soft tingling, similar to the feeling of the magical words that flowed together.

"Rorin, breath, repeat that please."

Caught up with his breath but still a bit read, Rorin finally announced, "Here, take this and practice with it. You said you were leaving to school in a two days no?"

Brief nods from the duo.

"Well then, I'll cut you a deal. I'm going to assume you are coming for Yule, and you said this school of yours is a castle correct?" More nods, "Well castles almost universally have traps, monsters, and treasure. I'll give you this book now, on trust, and you get me some of that sweet boo.. I mean treasure from the castle."

Seeing their apprehensive looks he quickly admonished, "I don't mean steal the heart of the keep or something! I just mean a few suits of armor here or there, maybe magical portraits that look at you, some examples of the worlds magic."

Holding the book to Harry he hopefully looked at the boy and asked, "So, do we have a deal?"

Harry reverently picked up the heavy tome, and felt a sharp sting on his finger. The book had drawn a bit of blood from his hand, sealing it to him and him alone unless voluntarily given, at least until Yule.

"I... I don't know what to say." He stammered, as he paged through it. Cautiously, he quickly read one of the passages. It described the words and motions for a spell, _Acid Splash_, and when he read it, a sharp pinching, faintly reminiscent of the feelings of magic from prior, echoed in what felt like the back of his eyes. Immediately after the sensation faded, he felt positive he could remember and use the spell.

"How about yes?" Rorin asked, amused at the reverence the boy held for such a common trifle. Perhaps the treasure of this world would be even easier to acquire than usual.

"Sure sure, yes, I mean, okay." Harry managed, flushing slightly at the soft chuckle from Luna lips.

Taking the book and the arm of Luna, they walked arm in arm up to the manner, reflecting on the days events. Reaching the low incline that Potter manor was stationed on, they saw the relieved face of Lily Potter.

Walking swiftly down the heavenly trodden path towards the two, Lily grabbed Harry in a bone breaking hug and scolded "What were you doing out there young man! You left hours ago and you missed lunch! You're already skinny but now you're going to waste away skipping meals like that. I was almost ready to call for aurors to search to property for you."

Faintly embarrassed over his mothers concern, but still reveling in the worry and love in her voice, he returned the hug and pulled away, reassuring her. "I'm fine mum, really. We just went by the lake and lost track of time."

"I'm afraid it's my fault Mrs. Potter." Luna said in her sing-song voice. "We saw a gathering of purple-winged lace flies and we just had to go investigate. Did you know they only gather where the boundaries of reality are being torn apart?"

"Right, I'm sure they do, Luna." Lily managed. She was still a bit uncomfortable with Luna's creatures and conspiracies. She refused to believe in Nargles and Crumple-Horned-Snokacks and their ilk. However, Lily was never one to make her son's only real friend feel unwelcome, so she tended to accept belief without really believing herself, but Harry could tell she disapproved once they started dating.

Of course, the boundaries of reality really were being torn apart, but Lily didn't know that.

The three of them talked quietly as they walked up the drive to the entrance of the manor. Lily questioning them about the strange animals they claimed to have discovered, though she couldn't get the names right, and the two of them indulging her with fantastic claims of odd beasts.

The entrance hall of the manor was large but cozy, the same could be said about the rest of the ancestral home. Painted in golds and reds, the manor was Gryffindor taken to the extreme. Harry was never a big fan for the colors, but it was home.

"I'm sure you two want to get freshened up before dinner, we're eating in a half hour." Lily walked briskly towards the kitchens.

Despite being a Lady of a Noble and Most Ancient house, Lily demanded to work side by side with the two house elves they had in their care. Though she realized that the elves were necessary to keep such a large home in order, she faintly disapproved of the creatures. Perhaps it was her Muggle sensibilities, but though she accepted their companionship, she didn't really trust the elves with much.

Of course the elves were incredibly offended the first time she worked with them, but it swiftly developed into a routine.

Dinner was a forlorn affair, with Godric moping at the table and everyone else struggling to not make him uncomfortable or confront him about his emotions. The last time the twins' parents tried to talk to Godric he nearly blew up his room in grief and rage.

It seemed the only thing that could bring him out of his depression was the presence of Ron and Hermione. To say that Harry got along with either was a vast overstatement. He despised the lazy attitude Weasley brought out in his brother, turning the formerly hard-working boy into a slacker who used Granger for help. The fact that Granger did nothing to dissuade the two irked Harry.

The causes that Granger also brought up and her reverence for authority whilst demanding that her own be acknowledged were things that further cemented her on his bad side.

It was also needless to say that neither Luna nor Harry were very fond of the Weasel. Besides dragging his brother down, Weasley was especially cruel to Luna, having known her from childhood. Indeed, it was Weasley who coined the nickname 'Loony.' When Harry heard about this, he near hexed the little Weasel into next week.

After dinner Harry politely excused himself to his rooms. After a chaste goodbye kiss Luna also flooed home.

Harry quickly brought out his runic project, area privacy and silencing wards. Despite the fact that active runes was NEWT level material, Harry had a knack for them, and runic wards were much more powerful than wand wards. The issue with them being that it was slightly easier to tear them down if they were done by a beginner, as beginner rune clusters usually ran on ambient magic from the air. Due to this ambient power, the control rune could easily be overloaded, shutting off the array.

Drawing the blue book from his pants where he hidden it, he paged through, looking for something to test. Deciding upon the memorized spell _Acid Splash, _he carefully mimicked the hand motions.

The were nothing complicated, not like spells anyways where things such as a simple levitation charm required four separate wand motions. The spell itself was simple, almost like a quick flick of the fingers, only with a gesture before hand.

Flicking his fingers out swiftly, he chanted under his breath, "acidum adipiscing."

The feeling that overcame him next could only be described as 'magical' at a later date. A soft short pinch-like feeling reverberated in the back of his eyes and power trickled through his arm, short and sizzling. At his finger tip was a tiny green orb, glowing with an arcane light.

Unsure of what to do with it, he willed it forward as he flicked. With a short sizzling it impacted his bed, burning a hole clean through the sheets.

Startled, he near jumped at the short whine that accompanied the travel of the object.

Cursing his stupidity under his breath, he quickly repaired the damage to his mattress.

Inspecting the damage, he was surprised to note that the wood wasn't damaged in the slightest.

'Curious, it doesn't seem to affect the wood of the bed, just the sheets and mattress. I wonder how many times I can cast it?'

Performing a quick acid resistant (many potions mishaps) charm on his wall, he cast again and again at the same spot. Every time it was a brief pinch, which seemed to lesson each time he cast, followed by rushing then sizzling.

Oddly he didn't seem to tire at all. To use such a spell with a wand would have most likely exhausted himself by then. The only thing this spell seemed to cost was willpower, a gesture and muttered words in pseudo-Latin.

He idly wondered if all spells were like this, and paged through the book searching for what seemed like a more difficult spell to cast. Finally settling on shield, and also wanting to test it with spells (thank Merlin for living in a magical home) that he was familiar with, he quickly cast it on a desk. On the desk a shimmering white shield pulsed, and he felt the tell tale pinch once more. This time, though, it seemed to take a lot out of him, where _Acid Splash _was a stream, this was a brook or a river.

"_Diffindo"_ he muttered, sending a low powered cutting hex at the desk. The shield didn't falter or break, but the spell went right through it. Disappointed, he turned to the book and hastily searched for the shield spell.

Apparently the spell was different from normal spells such as _Protego,_ instead of shielding until breaking it shielded what it could but refrained from breaking. 'Not extremely useful' he thought, filing the spell away for later.

Curious, he tried to cast a spell of equivalent difficulty at himself this time, wondering if his 'store' of spells would wear out.

"_Feather Fall!" _he cried, and in a flurry of feathers he felt a feeling of lightness. The pinching came once more, but he felt certain that if he tried another spell of the same difficulty that it would fail.

It seemed as if he could only cast a certain number of spells of each level, as he was calling it, a day, as _Acid Splash seemed_ to work fine.

Exhausted, he settled amongst the feathery pillows of his soft bed, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_It was dark, thunder roiled in clouds above, and the earth churned in agony as lightning struck it. Harry stood in the middle of a field, the bodies of the damned and dying scattered around him. The crows and vultures that feasted on the dead gorged themselves with the flesh of warriors._

_Corpses piled high, men, women, and children, most wearing weapons of some kind. A child held a broadsword, a sight that would have amused Harry if not for the fact that a crow was pulling his eye out._

_Harry retched violently, spewing all he had ever ate. Of course, the bile was but one stomach amongst many, as the field was soaked in bodily fluids._

_Navigating the maze of the field, Harry walked for what felt like hours. Stumbling upon a field, he saw a horrific sight._

_A man, snake faced, eyes-glowing, stood next to a woman on a platform carried by adoring slaves. Parading through a town, light flashed and struck citizens at random._

_But the truly horrific sight was the slaves carrying the platform. Rings clasped around their hands, impaling them to the dais. Piercings and tattoos adorned each slave, marring their features with what Harry now recognized as the Dark Mark. Worst of all, Harry recognized them through their twisted faces._

_Godric, Dumbledore, Lily, James, Neville, Ron, Sirius, Remus were but ones among many. Every order member he could recognize from the various meetings, and most of his friends carried the perverted duo._

"_**Horrible, is it not?" **__came a voice, musical in nature. Harry realized the quality of it was familiar, but he couldn't place it._

"_**This is the future of both of our worlds, unless you take my child with you on the morrow."**_

_Child, music, "_Desna_" he spat the word as if it was a curse._

_Soft laughter came from everywhere and nowhere. __**"It is I, I am truly sorry if you feel as if I have taken away your choice. Pharasma warned me that her champion would react like this."**_

_Pharasma, the name sounded familiar. He distantly remembered it from another life, another time. The dream seemed to have stretched on for years. 'Pharasma, think Harry think.'_

"_Goddess of Fate?! I am no pawn of the gods!"_

_Boisterous, be bold in the face of fear. Drilled into his head by his Gryffindor relatives. Fear is indeed what struck him to his core at the sound of that._

"_**Keep some of the fire, magus, it shall serve you." **__The voice seemed as sad as it could, yet small undercurrents of amusement rippled through it._

"_Serve me? Answer me coward, who dares speak but not show themselves?" Fear was indeed the motif of the day, Harry reflected idly._

_Lightning struck once more, this time to the side of Harry. A figure stepped out of the bolt, a figure that made his heart race._

_The _thing _using Luna's face, perverting her muscles, seeing disgustingly from her eyes, spoke to Harry once more. _

"_**The realm of dreams is my domain. You shall serve Pharasma in this quest. Return with Rorin. Unless you like what you see?"**__ The Luna-thing waved her hand to the image before them. The duo were torturing Godric, laughing at his plight._

"_Of course I don't!"_

"_**All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. You are a good man Harry, you are a blessed man. We will be watching."**_

"_Why, why me, why..._

* * *

"me... why me" Harry awoke with a jolt. The sun was cresting the horizon, illuminating his room in brilliant hues of orange and red.

Red, the color of blood, so much blood. Turning over quickly, Harry retched onto the floor. Later he would swear he could taste the corn from his first year welcoming feast in the bile.

If there was one thing Harry would give anything, even his own life for, it would be to prevent that. But why should he trust the goddess? Perhaps it is a ploy by some dark wizard? Maybe it was just a nightmare.

All thoughts such as that disappeared when the door creaked open.

Fearful, Harry swiftly drew his wand from his nightstand and smashed his glasses to his face. Leveling it to the door, he saw something that chilled him to the bone.

Luna, standing in the door, the sun catching her hair. Her eyes were listless, and once more she spoke in that awful voice. That voice that sucked the free will from mortals, that forced men to do whatever it took to attain it, to reach their dreams. The voice of a devil pales before the voice of mans desires. And it was with a voice such as that, that the words **"Because it is your destiny"** made him retch once more.

The answer to his feverently mumbled question ignited conflicting emotions in his heart. Fear, hopelessness, despair, and partially, resolve. Resolve to prevent whatever nightmare he witnessed. Resolve to regain control of his own life.

After the words fled from Luna's open lips, she collapsed to the floor like a puppet with it's strings cut, tears streaming down her face.

Bolting from his bed in only pants and nothing else, he once more hoisted her to his bed. He quickly summoned bottles of calming draught from his mothers store, and forced the vile concoction down her throat.

Tickling her throat to make it go down, she sighed inaudibly and relaxed. Stroking her hair, she looked into his eyes.

Weakly she asked, "Was it real?"

Startled, he said in a voice that he tried to force bravery into, his past resolve, but still sounded shaky, "Not if we can help it."

"We will help it right?"

"What kind of chosen would we be if we didn't?" At that, Luna chuckled weakly.

The two teens slowly collected themselves, picking their forms off the floor of his room. Sitting on his bed, the two held each other before speaking.

Breaking the awkward silence, but knowing it would go on if nothing was said, Luna softly initiated first contact. "So, we have to leave today?"

"I guess so, stupid gods." Harry muttered, fire blazing in his eyes.

Nibbling on her lower lip as she did when she was deep in thought, she asked "Why today though? Surely we need more time?"

"It's probably cause the bloody express leaves tomorrow. You're right though, we need more time. I don't want to leave without money, food, water."

Luna tilted her head questioningly, "Harry, we both know we couldn't withdraw money without our head of house knowing. I don't want to have to explain to Daddy why I am withdrawing several thousand galleons after we already went school shopping."

"Though, in a house like this, we could probably knick some canned goods and maybe some books before we go."

"Good idea, why don't you get some food before my parents wake up and I'll go get some books from the Potter library. You know only Potter's can enter. I'll also see if I can get a sword from the sparring room."

Luna looked so resigned, and Harry understood how she felt. To force children to take up sword at this age was disgusting, and he quietly cursed every god who's name he could recall.

Setting up an alarm ward on his parents room, Harry quietly made his way to the library. Recalling his promise to Rorin for knowledge, he grabbed books on history, magical theory, and potions, and stuffed them into his bottomless sack. Hesitantly, he also grabbed a Potter library ledger, which could call upon any book in the library no matter the distance. It was also enchanted with a standard array of spells that protected it from the elements.

Hesitantly, he also sneaked off towards the sparring room, and grabbed one of the swords that lined the wall. The training room was large, with suits of armor holding swords that would be used and worn by sparrers. The center platform was elevated slightly, and the walls had permanent charms that negated damage.

If Harry did what he thought he would be doing at the behest of some strange cosmic entity, this would be the last time he left the room. Memories welled up in him, laughing, playing, sparring, his brother.

The resolve that he felt earlier only grew, to protect those memories, to ensure that future generations could experience them, he would do anything it took.

"Now, why would you be sneaking around the manner at this time of day, and coming down here to grab a sword no less?" An amused voice called from the wall opposite the exit.

At the noise Harry practically jumped out of his skin. Landing ungracefully, nearly stumbling, he glared at the portrait.

"You wouldn't happen to be setting off on an... adventure now would you?" Harry saw what was clearly a portrait speaking to him. The man in it was middle aged, with a certain hardness and lining on his face that indicated much time outdoors. Besides the usual jet black Potter hair, he had sparkling blue eyes well creased with laugh lines.

Suddenly remembering that portraits could report to the head of house at any time, Harry briefly considered destroying the portrait. He would have to if it couldn't just flee to another, and instead resolved to keep silent.

As if sensing the worries of the young man, the portrait settled into a smirk that seemed natural on his face. "Well, my young secondary heir, I see my guess wasn't too far off. Be assured I will be seeing Lord Potter about this, unless..."

Realizing the bait, but also realizing he had no choice in the matter, as James could surely restrain him from leaving with the companions, he played along.

"Unless what?" He shot accusingly.

Twinkle in his eyes the portrait elaborated, "You see, it gets awfully boring here. I asked to be kept here in this room in hopes of seeing action but apparently dueling fell out sometime in the eighteenth century. Shame really."

"Anyways, I want to go with you." His features settled into another smirk.

Of all the things Harry expected, that was not one of them.

"Wha- what?"

"The nerve of some youth." Louder the portrait said, "I wish to go with you!"

"I heard you!" Harry snapped, "But why? You have no idea what I am even going to do?"

Exasperated the portrait exclaimed, "I already told you why! I'm bored. And you're young, you want a sword so obviously it will be exciting, and anything is better than staring at this empty room."

Sighing audibly, Harry asked, "I thought they specifically enchanted those portraits so they wouldn't **get** bored."

The portrait looked sheepish all of a sudden, "Well, you see, I kinda asked the painter to not include that precisely because of this reason. Adventure lad! Think, boooty, treasure, poor saps getting bamboozled. You have to take me, come on."

"And if I refuse?" Harry glared, unwilling to give an inch to a picture.

The self satisfied smirk once more, Harry could swear his face was stuck in that arrogant expression. "Then I report you're little adventure to Lord Potter."

Knowing he was fully trapped, Harry acquiesced, "Fine, but you won't exactly be able to see from a satchel. Also won't you get in trouble as well for coming with me?"

Eyes sparkling mischievously, he directed Harry to a small corner of the room. After sliding a small brick a centimeter to the right a cubbyhole opened. A smaller portrait, much smaller in fact, as well as a wicked looking sword were hidden in the hole. The portrait, Arabeck Potter, explained that the smaller portrait was linked regardless of distance. It also had a permanent sticking charm to the back with a command word, 'dimittam', to release it. This way, Arabeck reasoned, he could ride on the front and get a piece of 'the action'.

Alerted to his parents waking by the ward, he quickly made his way back to his room.

Still warded, he waited for Luna to return. A short bit later she entered, a small bag in her hand. In the bag was a small cache of galleons the house elves found for her, claiming she was baiting for nifflers. She also had a small horde of canned goods, enough to last at least a month. Water, they figured, was covered simply with an _Aguamenti_ charm.

After making sure everything was in order, the two sat on the bed. Luna quietly withdrew into herself, mourning the loss of her father for what she suspected might be a long time. Both teens had already written notes to their loved ones explaining it may be a while before either get back, that they had something important that only they could do.

Sensing something wrong that words couldn't heal, Harry settled for touch and softly rubbed circles in her back. She seemed to calm slightly at his touch, and nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder.

Truth to be told, though he appeared stoic on the outside, Harry was also mourning the loss of his parents. At least he thought he could talk to them through Arabeck, who could visit other portraits as well.

Trying to steer clear of those thoughts, he rambled on a bit softly, trying to comfort both of them. He spoke of the wonders of the new world that he could see, the new magics and completely foreign cultures they could visit. He imagined what adventures they would encounter and vocalized slaying dragons and saving villages.

The smell of cooked food interrupted their brooding, and they sat down for what would probably be the last meal in their world for a while.

Lily and James were so focused on Godric's agony over Cedric that they ignored the wistful expressions and sad looks on Harry and Luna's faces.

Turning away from the sight of the white manor was like turning their back on their world, and it was a while before they steeled themselves for it.

Approaching the hastily but professionally built camp, they were faced with the barrel of a long rifle before Noram recognized the two teens. Approaching the remains of the fire from last night, they called out loudly for Rorin.

Bustling from inside the tent, ink dripping off his hands and curses on his tongue, Rorin emerged with an annoyed expression on his face.

Annoyed, until that is he saw Harry's pouch. With a shout of child-like glee he hastily approached Harry and asked what he had there.

Rolling his eyes Harry explained that inside the pouch was a series of books. With a squeal and an expression that neither teen thought they would ever see cross those aged features, Rorin grabbed the bag and began tearing through the books at lightning speed, copying them with a spell.

While Rorin was copying inside the tent, squeals of joy creeping out, Milon hailed the two.

"Hi you two, what's with the long faces?" Milon called out from across the shore, rabbits strung from her belt.

With a shared glance, Harry spoke up, "That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about. But we felt we should wait for Rorin before we talked to you guys about this."

Milon looked at Gorag, who shrugged helplessly. With a resigned sigh, she sat down on a log across from the two, skinning the rabbits.

A half hour later Rorin finally emerged from the tent, a large stack of books behind him, being sucked into a chest. Strangely enough the chest belched rhythmically, as if consuming the books.

Flustered and red-faced with barely contained enthusiasm, he thanked the two profusely.

After nearly choking on his lunch, Rorin finally calmed down enough to notice the look on the duo's faces. The look of dread and resignation was something he knew well. He saw it most often on the faces of novice adventurers who left home.

"You want to come with us don't you." He asked, confirming his suspicions by the startled look that crossed the two's features.

Choking on his own lunch, he required some help from Luna, who hit his back to dislodge the stray morsel. After a coughing fit Harry choked out, "How, how did you know?"

"Well, when you have been adventuring as long as I have, it's a look you get to know on the faces of new adventurers." Rorin explained. Mentally he was contemplating if it was a good idea, they had never taken anyone with them. In all the journeys to parallel dimensions he had undergone, none have really wanted to leave behind all they had. Hells, they didn't even know whether time would flow the same between dimensions.

But when the chosen of Desna, a deity that could torture you with bad luck and nightmares, asked to come with you, it was kind of hard to say no.

"Desna said you would agree or else, I don't know why she was so vague but she certainly seemed scary enough." Luna informed him.

A soft shudder ran down the spines of the battle hardened adventurers. Or else was often the subject of many villainous rambles, but when it came from a god through and oracle, you damned well paid attention.

At this point Noram was returning from scout duty, and a meeting was called in the tent amongst the four of them to decide if they wanted to take some greenhorns with them back home.

Approximately 5 minutes after they entered the tent, the four emerged and swiftly agreed. The fact that they all seemed nervous and glanced at Luna out of the corner of their eyes did not escape either.

The fact that Desna herself threatened them made this one of their shortest dimensional visits, adventurers as a lot were very superstitious. Mainly because they knew the value of luck was the difference between being eaten by a dragon and being insanely rich. In fact Desna was one of the most commonly worshiped deities amongst adventurers. Luck, traveling, and using the stars to navigate were all immensely important to those who lived a hectic life.

While Rorin gathered the required dimensional energies with Bill to cross the boundaries of reality one last time, Gorag, Noram, and Milon were talking to Harry and Luna.

"Sorry to pry, but uh, have you figured out your curse?" Noram asked timidly.

"Oh it's no bother really. Apparently I am eternally plagued by nargles, quite terrible really." Luna explained dreamily.

"Nargles?" Milon drawled, not used to Luna's creatures. Harry knew that wrackspurts were one of the metaphors Luna used. Some creatures were real, some metaphor. Wrackspurts were metaphors for the force that compels people to steal or be cruel.

Not wanting Luna to go into a long-winded explanation, Harry quickly asked for clarification on how she knew.

To demonstrate, Luna dropped a galleon onto the ground, where a stray wind carried it ten feet away. The coin didn't seem to want to be picked up, and it took her a good 3 seconds to pick up the stray galleon.

"Oh you're haunted." Gorag said with a look of comprehension. "Minor demons will constantly follow you and mess with your stuff. Really annoying really."

When the group asked if she discovered any new talents, she twirled around in a circle and a brilliant cloak unfolded across her shoulders. The cloak shimmered in the sunlight, and seemed to protest the treasonous rays, as if built for softer light. The sight was actually quite blinding, and Harry could see how attackers would have a tough time making out her form. The cloak seemed to ripple with constellations and swirls, drawing the eye from any one place. It drew oohs and ahs, and Harry immediately recognized it from his book on oracles as a Cloak of Many Stars.

Finally, after two hours, there was a horrendous noise from the manor. As Rorin made them all clasp hands to finally transport, Lily and James were rushing out, note in hand.

* * *

With a flash of light and searing pain, Harry and Luna toppled in a heap with their four companions. They stood in the middle of a stone room, a blood red pentagram carved on the floor. Candles provided the sparse lighting that was present. Runes were carved into the floor surrounding the circle in an intricate pattern. Harry recognized the runes as being Greek in origin, but was confused as a runic diagram in Greek around a circle kept things _in._

With a jolt, he realized that perhaps things could come in and perhaps follow the travelers. All of a sudden very nervous as new blood to the circle, he waited for the banishment that never came. Breathing a sigh of relief, he finally noticed his surroundings.

Looking to the far side of the room, a huge double door stood, arching up to the ceiling fifteen feet above them.

At the shocked gasp from Luna, Harry turned behind them and nearly fainted. Stored in a gigantic cage of crackling iron stood a horrific demon, it's skin crackling with a green energy, it's body chitinous carapace. It had the head of a horse but the body of an ant, and seemed to be thrashing against a circle drawn on the floor in it's enclosure.

Harry swiftly noticed his companions were passed out from the pain, sting indeed, and swiftly _Enervate_d them. Each awoke with a jolt, and graciously accepted the pain relief potions Harry passed out.

Luna was busy exploring the room, skirting around the demonic creature to examine the multiple bookshelves that aligned the far left wall. To the far right there appeared to be some sort of ritual alter adorned with the heads of fearsome creatures. Harry idly noted that dragons were much larger in this universe.

"See, I told you we would start passing out!" came the high voice of Milon.

"Yes yes Milon, you were right, I was a fool to argue, now what kind of hosts are we?" Rorin grouched.

As if the word hosts was magic, all eyes snapped to the shaky looking Harry, and to Luna who was busy climbing an alter to some demonic entity.

"Get down from there!" Rorin snapped. A wrong footstep could potentially unleash the creature that he had imprisoned in the load stoned, and that would not be pretty. The last time it was unleashed there was a lack of births all the way to Yovaria.

"Sorry!" Luna squeaked before tumbling off the alter. Quickly Harry had a _Feather Fall_ on the girl, and she glided down smoothly.

"Ooh again again!" she squealed excitedly. Harry shook with silent laughter at his girlfriends antics.

Before she could begin to scale the alter again, Rorin cleared his throat loudly. The amused expression on his face gave away his faux anger, as he scolded her for being a 'dreamy idiot who almost destroyed Vaneria'.

With another of the showy bows he was so fond of, and dramatic poses by Gorag, Milon, and Noram, Rorin proclaimed, "Welcome to Toran Tower!"

Soon all six descended into hysterics at the ridiculous poses and what followed was a tour where the two new found dimensional travelers were able to forget the families they had left behind on their own planet.

While it seemed to have nothing on Hogwarts, the tower was a masterful piece of architecture. The castle had a large courtyard where every manner of plants from flesh eating to pollen producing were stored.

The grand hall was enormous, and Rorin gleefully informed the Ravenclaws that they had hosted all manner of royalty in it's stoned walls. The whole room seemed to ooze aristocracy and dignity, whilst also feeling as if a family could eat there normally.

The library was perhaps the best part to Harry, with it's own spiral staircase and folded pocket dimensions. Knowledge and magics from thousands of universes was stored there, as well as most rare and treasured books from that dimension. The sheer number of curses stored within the pages could wipe out a capital city.

Luna herself enjoyed Gorag's zoo of strange and exotic animals. The whole western wing of the building was full of glass cages where all manner of animals, from owl bears (which Luna immediately recognized as Umgubular Slashkilters) to swamp creatures, were stored. The sheer variety made care of magical creatures class look like a joke.

After a particularly fine dinner served by invisible servants bound to Rorin's will (Hermione would have seizures) they met in the map room.

This room was impressive to both. Above was a complete star chart, filled with drawings of constellations, as well as the one and a half moons the planet had. At their feet was a detailed map of the planet, which was flat. The main continents of Abraxia, Yovaria, and Romul, crept from the North and South in a manner reminiscent of a helix with Romul in the center surrounded by an ocean.

A small dot was located in the North Sea, in the inland ocean created by Abraxia and the Northern Edge. The faint flashing words 'You are Here' were visible.

"Well, we are here," Rorin said, pointing towards the red dot, "and where do you want to go? I can arrange a teleport for you two where ever you desire."

"Perhaps it would be best to explain the politics of the regions?" Luna asked. The two had no idea where would be a good starting location for an adventure.

"Of course of course, silly me." Rorin went into an explanation of the current politically climate. Romul was the center of the Empire of Damocles, which extended upwards and downwards from the channels that divided the ends of the helixes. The Empire was seen by many as the only hope of unification.

To the south in Yovaria, three countries warred. The left most edge was inhabited by the Union of Seafaring Traders, who possessed the majority of trade incoming by resorting to piracy towards the Romuls. The had colonies to the North of the channel as well.

In the center, the Horse Alliance held power. Most horses along the continents were produced here, as well as nightmarish steeds breed in the volcanoes that make up the center of the continent.

To the East was the remains of the last World King, a burgeoning nation lacking leadership but possessing remnants of lost technology. It was basically a group of hamlets united by the dead remains of the last World Empire.

In the North continent of Abraxia Barbarian tribes ruled to either side, and the center was ruled by the Archmages of Redroad, who used magic to enslave populations, and the undead to perform menial labor.

When the time came to make a decision, Harry, being champion of Fate, decided spinning around in a circle and guessing was the best choice. Before they knew it, they had transportation arranged for a small hamlet in the Union of Seafaring Traders.

After a night holding each other in this strange new world, the witch and the wizard in a new universe waved goodbye to their friends, and took their meager belongings with them, towards new adventure.

* * *

**A/N So that's the second chapter, I'm going to be revising the first chapter minorly. I am not too happy with my writing style at the moment, and any tips are welcome. I suck at dialogue, I will freely admit, but I want to practice without resorting to x told y z.**

**Character sheets are up at:**

**Harry - ?sheetid=657254**

**Luna - ?sheetid=657255**

**I am currently debating whether I should have Harry be able to use Slot Wand with his sword. I think I will as it makes sense, and I want to use Harry Potter skills in this new world. Too many crossovers I have read just used the names of main characters instead of their skills. **

**The other thing I considered is using Harry's wand as his Magus Sword, where he could enchant it but I didn't see how that would work. Perhaps boosting the effects of spells but I don't know how touch attacks would be delivered.**

**I think Luna as a Heavens Mystery makes the most sense. I mean it just screams Luna. I tried to make the curse make sense, and since Luna was constantly getting stolen from by the girls in Ravenclaw I thought the Haunted curse made the most sense.**

**I'll introduce the mystery woman with Voldemort soon.**


	3. Chapter 1: Of Murder and Chains

**Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Harry Potter or Pathfinder Chronicles**

**If you're a bit lost on who Arabeck is, I revised the second chapter. The major changes are they spend more time preparing, and Arabeck is a portrait of a past Potter who blackmailed Harry into taking him. Also Harry has a ledger to the Manors Library, so they can access all the books magically.**

* * *

The first thing Harry noted about teleportation in this universe was that it was a lot less nauseating or painful than all the other methods he had tried prior. Where he always felt that portkeys made him want to hurl up his dinner, and the floo always made him stumble, teleportation here was simply going from one place to another.

It was rather like some divine painter had, in true Loony Toons fashion, erased the stone walls and simply drew the dirt road that he and Luna now stood on.

Looking around, Harry carefully took stock of his surroundings. He was standing on a worn dirt road that stretched out of a forest, brushed with hues of orange and red. Obviously the seasons at least partially corresponded to the ones in his home dimension, something that he noted absently.

What truly drew his attention was the large village that sprawled opposite the forest. The quaint village distinctly reminded him of Hogsmeade, if a bit less modern. Thatched roofs and wooden walls seemed the order of the day, but the walls were painted in vibrant colors.

Truly astounding to Harry was that the settlement was lazily sprawled against the rocks, sometimes a bit precariously. Some buildings had large wooden beams stretching into the ocean, holding up the infrastructure above. The whole village seemed as dangerous and hastily expandounded as the Burrow.

The ocean itself seemed huge and daunting to Harry, full of unknowns and possibilities. While not seeming as welcoming as a crisp blue sky, it did seem to possess the same freedom of motion and expression as the clouds did on a particularly nice summer day.

While Harry was staring at the town, Luna was carefully watching the forest. Small smoke tendrils rose from the treetops at random intervals, and seemed to her to be signs of a particularly active camping scene. The whole forest seemed practically alive to the girl, rustles and snaps faint but omnipresent in the dense foliage. She could also swear she saw flashes of white, pure as a unicorns flank.

"Hey, hey let me see!"

The voice startled both Luna and Harry from their observations, hands flying to their wands in alarm. They carefully scanned the tree line and surrounding wilderness, even looking into the sky in pursuit of the source for the disturbance.

"Down here!" The voice called out, annoyed.

Peering cautiously at the source of the noise, they found their eyes drawn towards the satchel at Harry's belt. Harry flushed slightly and quickly undid the clasp, pulling a lint covered Arabeck Potter out. Sheepishly he flicked little bits of lint from the portrait, which scowled at him.

"About bloody time you remembered me, lint-for-brains. Now, since this adventure is right started, let's see the town." Harry wondered how the portrait knew they had arrived at a town if he was in a satchel.

Slowly, Harry pinned the portrait to the breast of his shirt, where it stuck. Arabeck let out a low whistle when he saw the strange dwelling, "Wow, where are we again?"

Luna peered curiously at the portrait, still stuck firmly to Harry's breast. "Harry, why do you have a portrait with you? And why so small?"

"I'm right here!" Arabeck cried indignant.

Ignoring the little picture, Harry explained, "Well he threatened to report me to Dad if I didn't bring him. Besides I figure we can use him to talk to the people on the other side, and who knows what he knows?"

Pausing to consider the rationale for a second, Luna smiled brightly at the portrait. Sticking her hand out in a gesture that clearly could not be reciprocated, she declared, "My name is Luna Lovegood, who might you be?"

Puffing out his painted chest, the middle aged man proudly declared, "Arabeck Potter, leader of the High Magi, third Lord of House Potter, all around thief and adventurer."

Luna tilted her head slightly in confusion, "The High Magi? Why would a thief be a high mage?"

The portrait had the good grace to at least look embarrassed, "Well you see, High in High Mage originally was an abbreviation for Highway, as in Highway men."

Luna nodded gravely. "Well then, I'm sure you will be a great help. I just realized we were never really taught how to be adventurers at Hogwarts. Unless I missed an elective somewhere."

Harry mentally guffawed, but saw the sense in her statement. They never had been taught what it entailed, and were so caught up in the excitement that they never bothered to ask the dimensional travelers just how they were supposed to adventure. Maybe it was more a learn as you go or get eaten occupation, like dragon handling.

Beaming at the girl, Arabeck said proudly, "Well you came to the right portrait little miss. Adventuring is a multifaceted occupation, the pay is great, the benefits not so much."

"First, we're gonna need to head into town there, maybe rent some room and board. Then we're gonna go conveniently pick up a bar conversation about some kidnapping or other, go into the dark woods full of dangerous monsters, and save a hostage or commit murder."

"Murder?" Harry gulped. The portraits casual mention of the brutal murdering of humans, even thieves or bandits, unnerved the two a bit. They were prepared to have to fight, but it just occurred to them that in this world there would be no law enforcement. No one to turn the bad guys over to, and solutions would have to be a bit more permanent.

Rolling his eyes, Arabeck groused, "Weak stomached youngsters. Of course we're gonna kill 'em, what did you expect to turn the rapists and murderers over to the local bobbies? No! If this place is at all like my team you take justice into your own hands."

Alarmed Harry asked, "But what about the sheriffs or police? Surely killing is against the law and I don't feel like being a fugitive by 16!"

Luna, looking a bit green herself, sadly replied, "I don't think in small towns like this people would know the law, much less enforce them. How sad to not know your own government, maybe we should start a newspaper to inform them."

Harry finally realized the true circumstances. The people would, as a general rule, be illiterate and uneducated. He hadn't realized before but he had, at least partially, expected to end up in an alternate version of his world, where people went to school.

Arabeck gravely confirmed their suspicions, "Yes, the people couldn't read the law much less enforce them. Just the fact that you can read will make you seem nobility to most."

The somber feelings the group had for the general state of the world were interrupted by a loud growling from the forest behind them. Arabeck unhelpfully said, "That sounded big."

Shaking slightly, Harry dryly remarked, "You think?"

The two teens linked arms and hurried towards the town. A sign in four different languages informed them that the small hamlet was called 'Dolhev" and was officially a part of the Union of Sea Faring Traders.

The duo and portrait entered the town, awash with the vibrant colors of the period. Strange sights and horrific smells assaulted their senses upon arrival in the general market and forum.

Voices bellowed as hecklers advertised their wares, usually some fishy product fresh from the catch. Guards patrolled the square occasionally, some stooping to inspect a shady booth or two. Children laughed and ran with all manner of beasts, dogs, cats, octopi, while their mothers called after them.

On a whole it was fairly reminiscent of Hogsmeade, and the two felt a small pang of homesickness. The major difference was the strange array of races that occupied the square. The majority were human, but strange bird like humanoids and graceful men and women paraded around as well. The two also caught glimpses, in the seedier alleys at least, of creatures just like Noram.

Arabeck piped up from his snug spot, "Okay, first thing we need to do is find a place to stay the night. Do you two have some coin?"

Fishing into her robes, Luna stuck her hand into an enlarge pocket and emerged with a small sack of galleons Harry had given her from the store. The glint of gold increased the fervor the hecklers cried out to the two foreigners, and a small throng descended. The swarmed pair hastily pushed away and ducked into a back alley.

The mob dispersed when they entered, but behind them a dull smack of wood hitting flesh echoed. In the quiet of the alley the sound carried, and a heavily accented voice drawled out, "Well, well, look at the new flesh in our little corner of heaven."

Turning hesitantly around, their eyes took in two hulking shapes, easily as tall if not quite as bulky as Gorag. One had in his hand a 2x4, which he held casually in a one handed grasp. He was smacking it to his free hand in a vaguely threatening manor. The two brutes had mirror smirks.

The uglier of the companions exclaimed, "Ah a pretty bird too. We'll have some fun today older brother. Coin and a bird!" He nudged his partner and eyes Luna lecherously.

"What do you want?" Harry fearfully called.

Chuckling, the brutes said, "Your money and your girl, you're free to go."

Knowing full well what they meant by your girl, he felt adrenaline surge into his veins. "You can have the money, but I can't let you take her."

The older of the two looked at him askance. "What made you think we askin'?"

In their haste they had retreated deeply into the alley, and were now backed against an unyielding stone wall. The two drew their wands shakily, the ruffians comments unnerving.

"A stick? Whatchu gonna do with a stick!" The younger barked out a harsh guttural laugh.

_Stupefy!_ Twin voices cried, a flash of red hurtling towards the brutes. They grunted and their eye-lids drooped slightly, but they quickly shook their head, alleviating it of the sleepiness.

Harry at this point was well and truly panicked. The only creatures to shrug off a stunning hex like that were either thick skinned or resistant, either did not bode well. Realizing that ropes would likely be snapped easily, and that regular spells would probably not pierce their hide, he quickly conjured a few daggers.

Applying a sticking charm, Luna banished the mass into the brutes. Harry was panting at the effort that conjuring took, especially things such as iron.

Metals flashed across the rapidly narrowing gap between the two duos, and the brutes screamed as a few of the daggers plunged into their flesh. The majority of the missiles stuck to the wall.

"Finish them while they're hurt Harry!" Arabeck shouted, he was practically bouncing in his frame with excitement.

Reaching to his side, Harry drew the sword he had previously plundered. Still a bit light headed with the effort of the conjuration, he advanced slowly towards the two.

The older brother had the hilt of a dagger stuck over his eyes, blocking his vision. Another dagger had sunk into his flesh at the base of his leg, severing a tendon. Blinded, and unable to get up, he flailed wildly at Harry's footsteps.

Wary of the flailing limbs, Harry levitated his sword through the brutes neck, cleanly severing it. Glancing at the other brother, who had had a dagger tossed into his eye, Harry took his sword from where it lay on the ground.

After carefully cleaning and sheathing his sword, Harry promptly fell to his knees and vomited. Luna walked up behind the boy, and gently held him while he purged himself. Luna truthfully felt like vomiting at the sight of the dagger ridden and maimed brothers, took so soon from life.

"That was a fantastic display my boy! Excellent use of simple charms and projectiles!" Arabeck gushed unemphatic from his frame. "Though I would have liked to see you use the sword yourself, ah well we'll have to work on that don't you think."

Wracking with silent sobs, Harry gasped out, "Bastard!"

Arabeck rolled his eyes, "What did you expect? Clean deaths? Unless you want to be the one throwing out _Avada Kedavras _this is as close to a clean death you're gonna get."

"_Dimittam" _Harry snarled, not in the mood to learn a life lesson. Shakily he stuffed the portrait back into his sack.

He looked at his hands, still shaking from adrenaline and fear. He took a life, with his own hands and magic. He felt perverse, a dirty thing. His parents had specifically taught him that everyone deserved to repent, that to kill, even on a battle field, was murder.

His hands would now be stained with blood, and Harry mourned. Mourned circumstances that made him take a life, the fear and anger at their casual mention of raping Luna.

Unsteadily, he got up and tested his legs. Finding they still worked, he unsteadily walked with Luna to find a guard to tell them of his deed.

Emerging at the marketplace, Harry looked at the people whose life just went on, not caring a wit for two of their citizens meeting a grizzly death.

Noting the contemplative look in his eyes, Luna sighed mentally. She knew the first life they took wouldn't be easy, but to have it come so soon must have unnerved Harry.

'Poor boy' she thought, 'he just had to face the harsh realities of this world.' She was very fond of Harry, but she of all people knew he and his brother were hilariously sheltered. They had never been exposed to the real world besides Hogwarts, Diagon, and Potter Manor. They hadn't had the ability to go places besides that, as the Boy-Who-Lived drew constant assassination attempts.

Looking regretfully at her boyfriend, she all but dragged him by the hand to a guard.

Calmly, she attracted the guards attention. "Sir, we would like to report that we were almost mugged in that alley over there," she pointed to the shady alleyway, "but we killed our attackers. Their bodies are in the alley."

The guard smiled down at the two, his expression growing grim when faced with the deaths. Nodding, he replied "Okay then miss, we'll take care of the bodies. You're friend there looks a bit green, you folk should get some rest."

At the almost casual dismissal of the 'murders,' Harry struggled against his fury. 'How can law enforcement be so casual!' He mentally raved. 'They act like death is just common, maybe it is but still! Can't they tell that for the Greater Good lives don't need to be lost!'

Luna was very proud of Harry at that moment, she had fully expected her boyfriend to explode at the guard. "Sir, do you know any inns down here? We're a bit new and need a place to stay."

Smiling down at the foreigner, the guard informed them of the tavern 'The Sleeping Dragon' and gave them directions. Thanking the guard, Luna dragged Harry down a major street into the tavern.

Music and the smell of ale assaulted their senses as they entered the bar. Men dressed in furs and robes were littered, some recanting grand stories of adventures. Behind the counter sat a buxom red head, that Luna nearly mistook for Madam Rosmerta at first glance.

Navigating the strange sights and smells of an old world tavern, Luna daintily stepped towards the counter, leaving Harry near the door. While she haggled with the owner over boarding, Harry slumped against the wall, going over the events.

With trepidation, Harry knew that would not be the last time he would be forced to kill. It seemed from the conversations around him that indeed killing was quite common! It affronted everything he had been taught and held dear, but he could see the necessity in this world. Still, wrenching children from their families with a sword seemed barbaric to the young man.

To hear the boasts of slaughtering villagers, killing whole families of sentients, and fighting cults, Harry grew even more green around the gills. Duly, he followed Luna up to a room, and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the scratchy, none too clean bed.

Sighing, Luna stripped the boy down to his pants and carefully folded the clothes. She knew he would be wracked by nightmares that night, indeed ever since she came into her powers she could catch snippets of peoples dreams. The rough men dreamed of gold and women, the men in robes dreamt of tomes and libraries, the shiftier folk of challenges.

After arranging the clothes, Luna had to deal with a door opening with a gust of wind hitting her in the face, her belongings disappearing only to reappear under the bed, and almost losing the sack of food she had prepared. Cursing under her breath, she carefully withdrew the portrait of Arabeck from Harry's satchel.

She retreated to the chair in the corner of the room, and after enlarging the portrait surrounded the corner in privacy charms, so as not to disturb Harry.

"Arabeck!" She called out to the portrait, which was feigning sleep.

After being ignored, she repeated, louder and louder until she was all but screaming at the portrait, who finally emerged from his pretend slumber.

"Yes?" He yawned.

Huffing, Luna glared at the portrait who met her gaze without blinking and with a bored expression. Folding her arms under her breasts, she finally asked, "Have you tried going to your other portrait yet?"

Sensing her right mood, Arabeck quickly replied, so as not to annoy her further, "Of course I have."

Sensing something was off with the hasty reply, she pestered him further, "What aren't you telling me?

Sighing at the blondes ability to sense lies, he muttered under his breath.

"Speak up." Luna prompted.

In a rush of air he said "Timeisn'tworkingthere."

"Repeat that please," she asked too sweetly. Arabeck felt his non-existant teeth practically rot in his head.

"I said, time isn't working there. It's as if I enter and all the other portraits aren't doing anything. I'm sorry but I don't think you can contact your parents or loved ones." His voice was sincere in his apology. Arabeck was truly sorry that they were forced from home so quickly.

Unshed tears sprang to her eyes, but with a force of will she schooled her expression into one of neutrality. "Oh bother" she said softly, her voice heavy with emotion.

Crying girls are a notorious Potter weakness, and one Arabeck was not immune to. "I know how you wanted to keep in touch, but at least you still have me." He said awkwardly. The words meant to comfort seemed to have the opposite effect, as her mask finally broke and the waterworks started.

Wracked with silent sobs, much like Harry had been earlier that day, she mourned over the true loss. The portrait was her last hope to at least affirm that her Daddy wasn't lost to her, or that Lily and James weren't lost to Harry. The harsh reality of their situation hit her like a freight train.

After a few minutes, she regained her composure. She had struck a quiet resolve to be the best she could and, in a corner of her mind, make her father proud.

Arabeck softly asked, "Are you okay?"

After nodding an affirmative, Luna propped her head in her hands and stared at the portrait. Arabeck was surprised at the fire in the blondes clear blue eyes, the inner glow. With a voice of steel she demanded, "What do we do now?"

Throughout the night, Arabeck schooled her on proper adventurer behavior. While Harry tossed and turned he gave her the rundown on navigation through a forest, how to haggle, and proper thieves etiquette.

Exhausted in the morning, and with Harry's thrashings finally calmed down, she too fell asleep in her chair under the watchful eye of Arabeck.

* * *

Harry dreamt that night of himself, desolate and ruined by dark magics, laughing as he tortured an innocent. Dumbledore had always said that to murder was the first step in becoming a dark wizard.

When he awoke he awoke screaming. The screams thankfully could not get passed the silencing wards that Luna had added to the room, but they did wake Luna with a jolt. Rushing over to his bedside, the held his head in her hands, whispering comforts in his ears.

Degenerating into sobs, the raven haired teen begged Luna, pleading with her that she would kill him if he went dark.

"I could never kill you." She told him softly. She was much too fond of the boy to kill him like a rabid dog. She of all people knew he would never go dark, would never derive joy of killing.

But Harry himself didn't realize that, in his mind he simply saw himself, snake faced like Voldemort, laughing darkly. Pushing himself from the bed with a spur of energy, he stumbled out of bed.

"Where do you think you are going Harry?" Luna asked in a dreamy voice. "You're infested with wrackspurts and until I banish them from you you aren't going anywhere mister." With that she gently pushed him back into the bed.

Angry, the teen tried to extricate himself from the sheets, only to find that a sticking charm stuck him to the bed. Glaring at Luna who was twirling her wand innocently in her fingers, he huffed loudly.

Chuckling softly to herself, Luna went back down the stairs to the tavern proper. After exchanging pleasant words with Madame Rosalind, the owner, whose name and figure eerily reminded her of Rosmerta, she took a simple breakfast of porridge. Sadly her favorite foods of syrup waffles and sausages weren't present, but it was too much to expect as much.

Staring glumly into her porridge, she just managed to pick up the words, "Child... cult... kidnapping... forest camp." From across the room. Tilting her head slightly, she looked at two men speaking in hushed tones, nervously looking around as if waiting for a figure to pop out of the shadows.

One man was dressed finely, he appeared to be a trader by class. His brown hair hung limply in his eyes and a shortsword hung from his waist. The other was wearing practical chainmail, Luna quickly made a mental note to buy some armor in town, and had pointed ears. A broadsword was strapped to his back, and his posture showed he knew how to use it.

Thinking back to Arabeck's words, on how they would conveniently pick up snippets or whole conversations about a quest, she resolved to consult with the painting.

Quickly finishing her porridge and tipping the owner a few knuts, she hurried back up to her rooms. She reflected that it was great luck to hear quests randomly, and mused on how strange it was that it seemed common enough for Arabeck to comment on it.

Drawing the door closed and placing locking spells, Luna turned towards the portrait, which was once more feigning sleep.

Rolling her eyes, she pointed her wand at the portrait and said, "Arabeck Potter, get up this instant or you will sorely regret it." Personally she thought her Molly Weasley impression was fairly decent, but she rarely had chances to practice it.

Eyes snapping open in alarm, Arabeck muffled an apology and yawned dramatically. "Well then little miss, what brings you to my humble abode?"

Plopping down into the chair across from the portrait, she stared at the visage of the elder Potter. Unblinking, the portrait began to nervously fidget, before finally she ended his torture. "I think we just got our first quest, and I wanted your opinion on if it's genuine."

Arabeck's eyes flashed with excitement, and he seemed positively giddy. "Well? Get on with it." he urged impatiently.

With a soft sigh and a glance at Harry, she repeated the snippets of the overheard conversation.

A broad grin threatening to split his face, Arabeck had never seemed more child-like before. Finally a quest after who knows how long being cooped up in a dusty old sparring room.

Rubbing his chin in fake thought, he drawled, "Well, it seems like a quest. Only way to know is to check it out."

"We don't even know where it is though, how are we supposed to 'check it out'?"

Eyes twinkling with amusement he replied, "Usually you just stumble around in the woods a bit, hear shouts or walk into a trap. Works almost every time unless it's a ruin, in which case there are often vague rumors of it's location."

Inclining her head sharply, Luna repeated an earlier sentiment. "Seems to depend a lot on luck doesn't it? Good, it's nice to have a bit of faith."

Arabeck opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Harry groaning from his bed. The sticking charm having long since worn off, he sat up rigidly.

Yawning and stretching, he checked outside and noticed the sun was already high in the sky. His nightmares forgotten he rushed out of bed and quickly got dressed. Both Luna and Arabeck watched amused as he scrambled looking for clothes.

Finally after getting dressed he realized he wasn't alone with a start. Flushing red he stuttered, "Luna... Arabeck... Hello."

Laughing at the poor embarrassed teen, the two greeted him with sly smirks and mutual hellos.

"So... how long have you been watching?"

"Since you jumped out of bed muttering about the express being late." Luna answered mischievously.

"Oh, right. Well then." Harry's nervous replies were cut off by a deep rumbling in his stomach, and he looked pleadingly at Luna.

Luna rolled her eyes good-naturedly and extended her arm for him. After they hooked their arms together they headed down to the tavern proper for lunch. After picking a gloomy table in a corner and casting silencing charms, Luna glanced over the assembled sandwiches towards the boy.

Harry was stuffing delicious lamb sandwiches down his throat, not messily mind, but ravenously. When he saw Luna's eyes on him, he slowed down his feeding frenzy and glanced up.

Sensing she wanted to tell him something, he bit the bullet and asked, "Okay, what's going on that has you looking at me like that?"

Fingering her raddish earrings, something she only did when exceedingly nervous, he softly repeated his request. She stared at him in a manner that would unnerve some, with her unblinking bulbous eyes, but which told him she was deep in thought.

Reaching a decision, she told him, "Well, you remember how Arabeck said that quests would come randomly right?"

"Right" he drawled out, not liking where this was going.

"It seems as though a child needs our help, something about a cult in the forest kidnapping people. Arabeck said that we should just stumble around a bit in the woods, don't snort you remember our talk about faith, and find the camp." Her cheeks tinted red a bit after his snort of incredulity.

"Okay..." he dragged out the vowels, disbelieving.

Reaching over to take his greasy hand she replied, "Look, I know it's crazy to believe that two teens stumbling around in the woods could take out a cult. But we just have to have faith that it would work, cause in this new dimension we're gonna need faith since it is all we have besides the clothes on our backs."

Begrudgingly, Harry acknowledged that adventuring wasn't something you could learn in a book. He mentally snorted as the title "Lockharts guide to finding adventure" with a picture of the fraud being devoured flashed across his mind.

Accepting his acceptance, Luna continued, "First I think we should get you some armor, maybe chainmail. I know it's probably expensive but getting stabbed would hurt you just as bad in this universe." Luna didn't want the fool to get himself killed for neglecting armor. She was quite fond of him but he did tend to charge into situations unprepared.

Sensing the wisdom in the approach of "Don't get stabbed," the two teens went out into the village after tipping the good Madame for a fine lunch. A small shop, thundering with the noise of metal pounding on metal, advertised the best armor in town.

Entering through the door, the searing dry heat almost knocked the wind out of the two. The building was larger on the inside than the front, thankfully, with a large display dominating the room. A forge was clearly visible from a door in the back, with a small stout figure pounding on metal.

The small man, for it was a man as was clear by his long beard, was pounding the red hot metal with a hammer that practically oozed magic. Each watched enraptured as the force of the blows bent a aspect of Earth to the craftsman's will.

Finally the little man finished and set the long sheet to cool, entering the main hall. In a ruff Scottish accent he asked, "What will ye two be havin'?"

Luna, hoping to hone her haggling skills, stepped up. "We're here to purchase armor for my friend here. Word around town is that you're the best metalworker in the area." She recalled her lessons, compliments first, make them take pride in their work. Acknowledge that their work is fine, but don't make statements too grand. This was the most dangerous part of haggling, puffing up the ego enough but not too much, or else they would overvalue their work.

Puffing up his chest proudly, the gruff little man said, "Aye, that be true. But what else would ye expect from a dwarf?"

Tilting her head slightly, she asked, "Dwarf?" Dwarves in her universe were the precursors to goblins, their work is still said to be the best millennium after their extinction. They tunneled and some rumors said that they created the landlines, and the intersections were the location of their illusive forges.

Shaking his head sadly, the man replied, "Aye, but ye won't be seeing many of us. Enough talk, let's get down to business lad."

Hopping off his stool, he drank in Harry's features, circling him like a shark with a gleam in his eye. Occasionally he would mutter something like, "Broad shoulders, not too broad chest." Finally after a few minutes of this, in which Harry had begun to fidget nervously, the dwarf hurried over to a case.

In his gruff voice he asked, "What type ye want?"

Addressed directly for the first time, Harry answered, "I was hoping for some chainmail, something light at least but still a decent protection."

Nodding with approval, the dwarf touched the case, causing the glass to disappear. Carefully he withdrew a chain shirt, long sleeved and extending partially up the neck. He handed it to Harry, who tested the weight a bit. It was heavy, but not overly so, and certainly less so than those hulking behemoths of plate he had seen many guards running around in.

Cautiously he slid it over his head, noting how well it molded to his form. It seemed perfectly fit, a true work of art.

Grunting, the dwarf withdrew a dagger and tapped the blade to Harry's chest. With a resounding clang clang, the dagger did not sink through the links.

"Good, lad, good. Now missy, how much you willing to pay?" He eyed her appraisingly.

Luna began to panic, usually a craftsman would present an offer first, and she had no eye for this kind of thing. Hazarding a guess, she replied, "30 gold coins."

His beady eyes raked her over, taking in the set of her shoulders and her faux confident expression. She felt sweat on the back of her neck, rolling down in drops, she knew a screw up could result in drastic up pricing here. She might have overpaid too, these possibilities danced in her mind.

Finally, after feeling measured an evaluated, the dwarf nodded. "How about 30 and a favor? I usually see these beauts for 50, but you seem trustworthy enough."

Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, Luna readily agreed. Thanking the dwarf she hurried to complete his favor, delivering the new plate mail to the Inquisitions embassy.

Upon arrival with Harry, who she had to go back for multiple times when various wares caught his eye, she took in the sight. The embassy was very gloomy, exuding an aura of piousness. This was a place where fun went to die, she mused.

Harry had a slightly different impression. The hallowed walls and practicing inquisitors seemed very inviting to Harry, and he felt, on some subconscious level, the need to repent for his earlier crime. Softly he padded the halls, following Luna. His footsteps echoed across the solemn building.

They finally arrived at a room, filled to the brim with merchants and citizens. They clustered on benches around a raised dais, where a man in white was delivering a passionate sermon.

"Iomedae sees those who are just, those who fight for honor. He forgives them, as he was himself forgiven by the gods for upholstering not what is easy, but what is right. The Greater Good of all of Valeria is his priority, and the only way forward is to seek it in law! Cast off the iron chains of barbarism, and embrace the practicality of law!" The deep, passionate voice intoned.

Harry felt the words strike a chord in him, in a world that, as far as he could see lacked law and justice, the praise of those attributes struck him. The concept of the Greater Good the cleric spoke of also struck a chord, and Harry felt that this was a god that he could get to like.

The sermon was dismissed, the many new recruits heading back home to their families. After the chapel was cleared, Luna and Harry cautiously approached the cleric.

After the cleric thanked the duo, and attempted to get them to convert, which Luna steadfastly refused but Harry seriously considered, the two made their way back to the tavern.

After a moderate dinner of a fishy stew, the two were in their room, surrounded by privacy charms.

As soon as the last ward fell into place, Luna rounded on Harry. "So, you're thinking of joining the church of Iomedae?"

Harry jumped back startled and wide-eyed, "How did you know?"

Luna rolled her eyes, "Please, Harry, I know you better than that. You're looking for repentance for killing that man, and I saw how enraptured you were with the sermon."

Arabeck piped up from the corner near the chair, "I think a bit of faith'll do the boy good. He certainly needs to clear his conscious."

Harry stammered, "But I never said I'd convert!"

Luna looked at him curiously, "Why not?"

"You should accept a decision I ma- Did you say why not?" Harry looked at her askance. He obviously though that Luna was trying to dissuade him from worshiping this god.

"Yes" she nodded her head.

"Oh, well then." Harry was a bit lost in the conversation. Not knowing how to continue onwards, an effect Luna was prone to cause, he asked the portrait, "What do you think of this new armor?"

The portrait looked at Harry appraisingly, as Harry lifted his robes to show the chain underneath. Finally after a moment of consideration he smiled widely, "Quite good on you, it seems to fit very well. It'll probably stop a stray arrow or a knife, quite good yes."

Luna also beamed at Harry, "You do look quite good, that little dwarf sure knows his way around a forge."

At the mention of the dwarf Arabeck gaped like a fish. "Did you say dwarves?"

Luna nodded her head, "Yes I did."

Arabeck practically choked, as much as a portrait could, and continued to look like a fish out of water. Harry chuckled softly at his expression.

"Luna got it for a good price too. 30 galleons and a favor. That's actually how I found out about this Iomedae guy." Harry smiled at Luna, it was quite a good deal. Luna softly smiled back.

The portrait looked quite proud, "Did you use those haggling skills I taught you?"

Luna looked almost like she could dance a jig, "Yep, they were quite useful." She beamed, proud of her work.

"Wait, you're teaching her how to haggle but you're not teaching me how to fight?" Harry half joked.

"You never asked," came Arabeck's dry response.

"So can you then?" Harry hopefully looked at Arabeck. He thought that if he could learn how to fight better he could potentially incapacitate instead of messily killing.

"I can" Arabeck drawled, a cheeky smile on his face.

Luna, master of the literal easily saw where this was going, as Harry asked, "When do we start?"

In the frame Arabeck held up his hands, "Wait, I never agreed to it."

"But you said you could teach me!" Luna idly reflected that Harry was quite cute when he was being petulant.

"I can, but you never asked if I would." Arabeck cheekily smirked at Harry's annoyance. To be mocked by a portrait!

"Will you then?" He asked through grit teeth.

"Of course." Arabeck chuckled fondly at the boy, who once more looked ready to leap in excitement. From the little Arabeck had seen, the boys sword fighting needed serious work. He shouldn't have had to levitate the sword to kill the thug, it would have been simple enough to hack off a blinded man's arms.

After arranging for practice lessons in beginners form for Harry, the two teens settled down to sleep, feeling significantly more at home in this new dimension. What they didn't see was Desna soothing the stray dreams from her champions thoughts, promoting a good nights rest.

* * *

**A/N - Thanks for reading guys. I thought you might want to know of some decisions I made regarding the story. **

**First, I want to make clear that I will not give them powers for the sake of powers. I won't make Harry an animagus, master occlumens with eidetic memory, Dumbledore bashing bastard with magical creature transformations and wandless magic.**

**DnD already has enough powers, and though they have access to the entire Potter library through the ledger, they won't be the next Merlins. They will be above average in magical power, sure, but there isn't much time to study on the road. I hope to infuse DnD powers and magical items with Harry Potter spells in a meaningful manner.**

**Second, they will be returning to the wizarding world, and no they will not easily off Voldemort. Too many stories I have read have had the buildup in power be so crazy that the actual confrontation with Voldemort is piss easy. Tom Riddle will be a threat, a major one at that.**

**Third, Harry and Luna will not multiclass, they will be straight oracle and magus all the way.**

**Finally, fighting will not be the primary focus of the story. I also wanted to keep battles and such from getting too easy, there will be losses. Yes I know the short encounter in this chapter was easy, but I wanted it there just to demonstrate two things. One, wizarding magic is powerful but much more draining than DnD. Two, in a realm of magical creatures, magic is not the best way to fight.**

**It is fairly decent as a supplement, but a half ogre will be resistant to direct, just like in HP. Also, in the higher end of magical items things like stupefy won't cut it. Not only will I gradually build up DnD powers with levels and such, but over time their wizarding powers will build.**

**Also sorry if Harry seems a bit too angsty, but my rationale was that Harry has been raised to never kill, been thrust into a situation in a strange world and forced to take a life. He'll get over it, but it will be heavy on his mind. These are real people, killing is not that easy in real life.**

**Sorry if this new chapter was a bit too Luna focused, but I suck at writing angst and Harry was being very angsty over his first kill. I'm trying to get more into Luna's character, I like her but I haven't been conveying her personality really well, or her oddities.**

**Finally, if Harry seems more Gryffindor than Ravenclaw at the moment, it's because in my canon he was offered three choices. His brother was already in Gryffindor and he wanted to be his own person, and he didn't want the stigma of Slytherin. He does like knowledge for knowledge sake, and this will be more apparent in later chapters where there are actual mysteries and puzzles.**


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